


Just unfinished works to supplement

by Luxray4257



Category: Obsolete Dream
Genre: All of these are unfinished works of mine, can I call them the nightmare trio for fun, i just felt bad that I never got to finishing them, imma call them the nightmare trio for fun, plus this fandom is really devoid of the main three characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:55:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 36,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24022444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luxray4257/pseuds/Luxray4257
Summary: Just a bunch of unfinished (shitty) stuff over the years(2018-2019)I felt bad that I was leaving them to rot, so I’m just posting them because the nightmare trio has very little love for some reasonI’ll try to include a note as to what I was thinking at the timeFeel free to take these ideas and run with it, or if you really want me to finish it just msg me
Comments: 9
Kudos: 7





	1. Hanten x Olivia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is literally them meeting, with Hanten colliding into Olivia by crashing into her after getting injured

All she had been doing before that thing hit her was living a rather happy, but boring life. And at that point in time, she was walking back home from school at night. It had been an uneventful day, as usual, since no one wanted to be her friend thanks to the rumours that she was the unholy child of a demon and a human.

She sighed. It wasn't that the rumours weren't true, but couldn't they see that papa was actually really nice? He had helped some humans before, after all. How she wished that mama was still on this earth, and not ten feet in the ground. She sighed again before smiling hopelessly as she looked up at the moon.

Usually, she would be too enchanted by the moon to notice anything else, particularly when it was full, but perhaps it had something to do with her want to wish for a friend that she looked at the white dot so far away from her. She looked at the dot that seemed to be getting bigger as she stood there before clasping her hand and closing her eyes.

"I wish... I wish that I had someone to talk to, someone that would always stay with me no matter what I do, and that we'll be together forever!" She giggled at the last bit.

It was, of course, just a childish wish, but she could afford to let out this side of her when she was alone. She opened her eyes, and the white dot still remained there. How strange, she thought. Olivia was certain that the star in the sky was a lot bigger than before she had made that wish, and kept standing there, staring at the growing dot.

Some people say that when things drop from the sky and hit you, it was a sign of the beginning of prosperity for you, like Issac Newton and his apple.

Nobody told Olivia that prosperity would hurt when it fell from the sky. And at that moment, she wanted to correct those people greatly as she groaned.

She got the thing that had crashed straight into her off her and stood up, dusting herself off before yelping as she bent down to get a better look at what she could tell was a demon.

Correction, a girl demon. She was about to pull her up when she smelt blood on her. Before she could nudge her, the demon grunted and got up, grinding her teeth and holding her head.

Olivia gasped at the amount of blood and wounds on her. She reached out to help her, only for her hand to be slapped away as the white haired demon growled.

"Geez, it's a human. I don't have time for you, so do yourself a favour and get out of my sight." She staggered as she held onto a tree, her face flushed as far as Olivia could see.

"B-but you're injured..."  
"So? Doesn't mean I won't hurt you..."

She didn't even finish that sentence before she fainted and fell flat against the floor. Olivia rushed towards her before realizing she was down with a fever and her thoughts started running wild. 

She couldn't just leave her here, the other people would try to kill her in her weakened state. Between facing the demon's wrath or the possible guilt if she didn't help, she chose the obvious option and grabbed her horns before dragging her back.

After dragging what she thought was probably already a corpse all the way to her house, Olivia was relieved to find the demon still breathing and pulled her onto the sofa before going to get a few medicines to treat her wounds. 

She managed to patch her up relatively well and tied the last knot on the bandages. It seemed that the demon was quite tired, having slept through the whole process.


	2. Different

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sullivan watching Olivia grow up with the context of Grey Garden wars

Even from the day she was born, she was remembered as the child who was different. 

Born into an era of war and bloodshed, I would say. Her wails have a different meaning, however, than those who stand outside the castle walls.

Oh, my sweet Olivia, I say, papa will make sure you’re safe, untainted by this red. I rock her, shushing her until her red eyes disappear under her eyelids in the influence of sleep.

She will be different, I say. I will make sure that she stays here, safe and sound, away from the chaos outside.  
||||||||||||||||||||  
She is an interesting child.

Her development is slightly slower, and she cowers in fear at the sound of the drums. Not like a typical demon at all. She definitely takes after the human side.

I wonder, how would this work out in the end? Will she even be able to live a normal life, scarred by the bloody battles.


	3. The proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanten asking Sullivan for permission to marry Kuro

She knew that he would be adverse to it.

She just didn’t realise how adverse he would be to the idea.

“No...no....no way... not Olivia...and your family...” Sullivan had his hands clutching his head, definitely having a headache momentarily considering how stressed he looked. There was no way, no way in hell that he was going to let Olivia be married to her, because that would mean... He shuddered to think about it.

Hanten tapped his shoulder, causing him to flinch. And here she thought that he would have agreed more easily if he was drunk. Chances were, if she had gotten him drunk, Sullivan would have probably passed out the instant she finished her sentence.

“Hey. Hey geezer. Calm down, will you? It’s only a simple question.”

The wheels in his head were running twice as hard now, trying to contemplate what kind of fate awaited him if he agreed. The family of psychopaths, which was saying something, considering he didn’t have a good temper as well, no, they wouldn’t be good company for innocent little Olivia.

“Geezer? Are you even listening to me at this point?”


	4. Tatsumiya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tatsumiya raising Wadanohara

He’s gone.

There’s no major trace of his legacy, no sign of his existence any more. She knows that this was due to happen, but no matter how much she prepared herself mentally, it would never be enough to go through the shock and realization.

She glanced at the small egg in her hands. This was his only descendent, she realized in the wake of his sacrifice. 

And so, she takes a deep breath as she prepares herself, like she’s signing a contract with someone again, and whispers to the unborn child a promise that she guarantees will not be broken.  
||||||||||||||||||||||||  
The child, fittingly named Wadanohara from her birth place, is barely bigger than her palm when she hatches. 

She begins trying to teach the newborn some very basic spells, just as he had taught her when he took them in. Wadanohara, barely a month old, can only babble incoherent words, unable to comprehend these important information given to her. Although she seems interested in the magic sparkles her caretaker creates from a few words, she is incapable of understanding, and thus reaches out for the little rays of light.

Tatsumiya then realized that perhaps she was going too fast, and decides to instead let Wadanohara develop more, planning to get her to be just like her father, the powerful yet kind sorcerer.

She sometimes wishes that Old was here, to understand why she chose Meikai over him.  
||||||||||||||||||||  
She’s a decent sorcerer.

She wished she could do more.

Wadanohara grows healthily, eating well, and she is an absolute joy to be around. All the citizens of the Blue Sea agree that she is a wonderful girl, who brings smiles to everyone’s faces wherever she goes.

Now that she is older, Tatsumiya wonders if it’s time for her to get a familiar. She knows that having familiars would be able to protect her, preventing any harm from befalling onto her shoulders.

She decides that she will introduce the idea to her and allow her to decide between two sharks that are slightly older than her.  
|||||||||||||||||||||  
The instant she meets the two sharks, Wadanohara is ecstatic, and grabs both of their hands before pulling them to play.

She notices that the two boys are happy knowing her, one in particular blushing furiously while the other seems overjoyed that she is holding his hand. She remembers their names, Samekichi and Sal if she wasn’t wrong. She doesn’t remember when Sal’s eyes turned red, but she assumed that it was a side effect of the war with the Red Sea.

Tatsumiya believes that there may be more than joy underlying under Samekichi’s blush.  
|||||||||||||||||||||  
She knows that she was right.

Now that they’re older, it’s obvious to all except the receiver. The look that Samekichi gives Wadanohara is one that is full of love and concern. 

Unfortunately for him, she only named him her best friend and familiar. Tatsumiya resists the urge to just spell it out for her dear child, believing that she should let Wadanohara figure it out.

Even if it looks like she’s the densest person in the ocean and wouldn’t figure it out for the next century.  
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||  
She feels that there is more to Samekichi’s story.

She may not know him best, but she knows him well enough to know that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Wadanohara.

But she had no choice except to believe his lies, and watch him disappear from their sea.

The sound of the ocarina reminds her of Samekichi’s importance to Wadanohara as it plays.  
||||||||||||||||||||||||||  
She has finally returned to their sea.

Tatsumiya


	5. Photograph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The difference between Olivia and Kurotsuno’s interest in photography
> 
> Olivia was actually going to have a moment like Mitsuba from TBHK (that one with Kou where he says he’s taking a pic of something precious to him), but let’s take a moment to understand I wrote this in 2018 before I knew about TBHK so I had no inspiration from there

Olivia loved her camera.

Absolutely loved it. Obsessed over it. Had a habit of saying good night to it too. 

It would sit on the table at night, and then hang on the girl’s neck during the day.

||||||||||||||||||||  
Kurotsuno glared at the photo. Then, she steeled herself to pick up the camera next to it as she laid the photo frame flat on the table.

“Since when were you interested in photography?”

Ah, that annoying voice that almost made her jump again. Almost. Drat. She thought that she would get sometime alone to herself for once while that girl was asleep. Apparently not.

And then she realizes the emphasis on the word ‘you’ in the sentence. The meaning behind it is not lost to her

“It doesn’t matter.” Kurotsuno claims, walking off into the woods as she hears the flapping of wings in the distance. She didn’t care what Hanten thought of that statement. Though, she probably already knew what was her intention in doing this, all things considered.

Might as well make some new memories to replace her old ones.


	6. Olivia x Hanten 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don’t remember the context
> 
> But like Olivia was going to get torched and Hanten rescues her

Bring her out here. Hurry!"  
"Kind of hard, don't want her to wake up now..."  
"Shut up coward and hurry up! Tie her to the stake and gag her!"

Olivia was awoken by these rushed whispers, her head hurting a bit as it seemed that she was being dragged across the floor. Why was she here, she wondered. Wasn't she at home earlier?

Then she remembered. She had been knocked out by the villagers. 

Her vision was still quite blurry, but her hearing got slightly better, and she continued to eavesdrop.

"Pastor, what happens if, you know, the demon doesn't arrive? What should we do?" One man, sounding like a shop owner she had spoken with earlier to get some food, mumbled under his breath.

"We got a demon's spawn. We can still purge the village of this evil. Besides, if she does come... it doesn't matter, I have everything else prepared." The man that was probably the pastor seemed to be determined, which unnerved her since they were talking about putting her to death.

Olivia was now certain that there was at least a group of people, and she tried to keep herself as still as possible to avoid giving herself away.

"Aww, but look at her tiny body! Surely we can play with her for a while?" Another man, this time the butcher, she was sure, slyly said.

"Absolutely not. We need to get rid of them. We already had one of ours tainted, we don't need you to become another tainted sinner."

Olivia gave a slight surprised squeal when they stopped dragging her and instead hoisted her up. Her eyesight was better now, and she could see that the entire town seemed to be holding pitchforks and torches. 

"Ah, so the demon spawn is awake now. Even better." The butcher who had been carrying her tied her up to a wooden pole, and her eyes widened at the wooden stage set up for her. Surely they weren't going to...

"Burn the demon!"  
"Kill the beast!"  
"Destroy the witch!"  
"Cut her throat!  
"Crucify her!"  
"Spill her blood!"

The villagers chants started to meld into one, and her fears increased greatly. Papa... papa wasn't even coming back till next week! And-and Hanten... hadn't she just gone back home? 

Olivia was resigning herself to fate. She didn't blame anyone for this, not papa, not the villagers, not her white haired human eating friend, and most certainly not her mother. No, this was just pure bad luck for her, being in an out of place society.

The townsmen continued yelling, raising and slamming their pitchforks, axes, though the baker was holding a very obvious rolling pin. If only they were all holding a rolling pin, she wished. 

The man who she believed was the pastor, since she had never been in the church anyway, walked up to her with a book that definitely did not seem like the bible. His eyes were full of hate as he looked at her, causing her to flinch away from the intensity.

"Any last words, demon?"

She took a while to realize he was addressing her. Looking up at the sky, she could only beg for some miracle to spare her own life, and yelled above the crowd, screaming for help to her friend before being promptly gagged.

The pastor got off the stage, signalling for the townspeople to set the wood ablaze. The flames were starting to turn the entire place into ashes. 

She started to tear up, both from the ashes getting into her eyes and her inevitable fate. She hadn't expected that she would meet such an end as she felt the searing heat scorching her skin.


	7. Random stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a fictional child here

You named her what?”

Kurotsuno sighed as she repeated herself. “I said, I named her Hantai. It was a sort of spur of the moment thing, almost like somebody decided to spin a roulette and picked that name and placed it in my head.”

“Well, she definitely lives up to her name.” She pointed towards the kicking and screaming child in Kurotsuno’s arm. “You could say she opposes the idea of being with you.”

“What? No it can’t be.” She muttered, still in denial as Hantai started to chew on her arm furiously. “She’s just not used to me. I’m sure she’s just hungry. See?”

Hanten was clearly not buying it, but she decided to play along. “Right... I’ll just grab some food. I’m sure you don’t mind giving some chocolate to her, right?”

“DON’T TOUCH MY CHOCOLATES!” She yelled, which only gave the child who was struggling to get out of her arms more incentive to screech. Kurotsuno frowned, trying to settle her down. Why wouldn’t this kid listen to her? What had she done to deserve this? Maybe if she talked to her, she would better understand what was going on, like maybe she was holding her too tight-

What if she was really holding her too tight?! At that thought, she immediately loosened her grip, which caught the little girl by surprise, causing her to fall off. The resounding bump of her head against the floor caused the demoness to cringe. So, she was not off to a good start...

To make matters worse, Hanten was giving her a judgemental look as she sat two plates of food down on the table, one with meat, and the other with cookies. “Not going too well for you?”

“I’d like to see you try, idiot. Also,” she quickly restrained the resistant child from touching the bloody meat, “don’t give a human child raw meat!”

“How’d you even know that she’s a human? She could just be a demon whose other features hasn’t developed.” 

“Just cook it or something will you- ow!” Kurotsuno yelped as Hantai bit on her hand hard before running towards the table, pulling the other girl’s skirt to try getting her attention.

“Geez, is it that hard to control a kid?” She picked the child up, who was surprisingly not resistant to the action, much to the dismay of the other demon who had been subjected to punches, kicks and screaming for the last hour. “Don’t look at me like that, I just have more experience with dealing with babies, like Chikemuri and Jork. They cry a lot.”

Kurotsuno restrained herself from looking too hurt before regaining her normal apathetic face. She folded her arms and looked away, still seething from how easily Hanten had managed the situation. “Whatever. Children are troublesome. Just cook the raw meat before you give it to her.”

She huffed before she pointed a finger at the meat and immediately set it on fire. “There. Is it cooked enough?”


	8. Hanten’s family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanten shows her new form to her parents (dad)

“Yeah. Yep. You don’t need to call me ya know that, old man? I’m fine. Uh, sure thing, I gotta go now. Bye.”

Hanten hung up before her father could get another word in, sighing as she turned to the other girl sitting at the table having her chocolates. “You gave him your house number?”

“It’s better to hear his voice than mine.” Kurotsuno shrugged as she slid into the chair opposite of her. “Besides, he deserves to know what happened to his daughter who disappeared on him for years.”

_ And your dad doesn’t? _ She thought that to herself, knowing she would come round soon. “Eh. It’s not like it’s a significant thing or anything.”

Kurotsuno raised her brow in disbelief before turning over to the other three ‘tenants’ of her house. Then she lowered her voice as she continued. “You’re not worried about what your parents might think of you, disappearing on them like that? You can’t keep it a secret from them forever.”

“And you? Your dad doesn’t deserve to know either-“

“My current treatment of him is perfectly justified, you of all people should know that.”

No it wasn’t, she thought. Maybe at the start it was, but now, after a century... then again the grudges that crows hold are the greatest. “True. But I don’t wanna explain the details to them though. For all they know, I was visiting a demon friend nearby in this world, not yours each time I disappeared.”

“Just lie to them then. Make up a story.”

“You want me to come up with a perfectly reasonable story about how I half died in the middle of a war I wasn’t supposed to be in and then somehow, this happened to me?”

“...yes.”

She rolled her eyes, looking exasperated. “They don’t even recognise me when we pass by them in town. I don’t see a point in getting in touch with them.”

“They don’t recognise you, because they don’t know it’s you.” 

“That’s not the point. It’s... it’s... aargh!” She groaned as she started waving her hands wildly in the air. She gestured at herself, pointing several times to the horns and her hands. “I don’t know how to explain it. How bout you suggest how exactly am I supposed to go home like this?”

Kurotsuno didn’t even spare a glance at her, flipping the page of the book she was reading calmly. “Then why don’t you just try and go up to them? For all you know, they’ll just take it in and be normal people.You’re making a big fuss over nothing. Just go home and explain it to your parents.”

“No one just goes home looking completely different, walks up to their old man and mum, goes ‘hey, this is me now, accept it’ and then expect them not to react.” Hanten sighed before sitting next to her, still believing she shouldn’t go back. Who knew what her parents would do, finding out that their ‘darling daughter, treasure of the family’ had been sort of replaced with her.

Kurotsuno sat up, putting the book away. “You haven’t gone home for months, and instead have been camping at my house, without a single word to your parents. Even they must want to know how you’re doing.”

“But still-“

“No buts, go or I kick you out. In fact, I’ll personally send you there just to make sure you do it.”

Anyone who was in the vicinity would have heard large amounts of swearing from a duo walking down a less used road.

|||||||||||||||||||||||||

If you asked Gyakuten what kind of person he was, he would tell you that he was a carefree person since he had everything in life.

He had friends (one that he personally called his ‘fighting’ buddy), he had a job, he had a loving wife who supported him in many things, and he had a great family. Wasn’t that the definition of wonderful? Even the devil agreed with him.

That was about to be tested in a few minutes though. Not that he knew or needed to know about that.

The first thing he saw as he got to his front door was that mismatched horn demon. Ah, right, Sullivan’s daughter. He personally liked her way better than her father. For one, he could feel this sense of power emanating from her, which invigorated him greatly to know that the weak could still produce someone so strong. This power literally radiated off her, causing him to grin.

“Ah, if it isn’t 

He had barely stepped into his house when he thought he felt the presence of a strange yet familiar person staring behind him.

Gyakuten, well, he honestly had never imagined such a day would come where he would be having a long talk with his daughter.

Heck, he didn’t even know such a day would come, with her outstanding behaviour.

Yet here he was, at the table, watching her on the other side of the table, hands crossed, as if they were getting impatient and he was the one who did something wrong. 

Next thing you know, he thought as he sat down at the table, Chikemuri would finally be into killing, and bringing honour to the family like his elder sister (he decided to overlook the part where she didn’t come home for months because she was with another kid that he believed was a demon).

Man, what a headache, and this wasn’t even Sullivan. Maybe he’d invite him out for a drink later and ‘talk’ about their problems.

“Old m- dad? You’re awfully quiet.” There was some hesitation in her voice, uncharacteristic of her. And she called him dad, a nice change, but again unusual. Probably to reassure him that he was her father with all the... changes, to put it nicely. Heck, if she had lied and said Anten was her father, he would have believed her.

...his years of teaching literature (the art of lighting books up like Christmas trees, he had once thought) had finally gotten to his head.

Gyakuten opened his mouth, wanting to say something, anything really, but he had no idea how to start. Which was a first, probably. Here he was trying to have a D and d talk, but it’s not like he could say anything to make the situation better in any way. What was done was done, no point in him making a fuss about it.

He cleared his throat, feeling the (awkward) tension rising slowly. Sullivan really should have given him a proper warning, considering the number of times that he had tried to hint to him that his daughter had changed.

“Dad. Dad. Oi. Old man!” He snapped out of his thoughts when she finally shouted at him, clearly looking impatient. So she had calmed down considerably, seeing that she hadn’t just bitten him to get his attention. He could get used to this.

He finally decided to say she something, just to understand a bit more on what happened. “So, uh... how are you?”

Of course. Of everything he could have said, he asked that.

She looked a little puzzled before putting some thought into it. “I’m fine? I guess. Just need to work out some kinks with this body.”

“And this form doesn’t hurt you?”

“It did, initially, but it’s fine now.”

He nodded slowly, before asking her a question that kept bugging him. “You’re still into murdering, right?” Gyakuten didn’t think he would be able to take it if she became a pacifist like Chikemuri.

His heart seems to lighten considerably as she nods, and he makes an effort to smile at her in such a way to show that he wasn’t mad or anything.


	9. ‘Date’

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Met gets a chance to borrow Kurotsuno’s body to join Hanten for dinner
> 
> Actually this is where the idea for Desperation Possession came from, except Met never gave Kuro her body back in that one
> 
> Also there wasn’t a date. It was literally a dinner between two friends, so there’s supposed to be a moment where like Hanten gets weirded out by the sudden affection

“Pretty pretty pretty please? Please please please say yes?” 

Kurotsuno glared at the ghost kneeling beside her bed, hands clasped together, who was begging her as if her life depended on it. There was this strange look on Met’s face as well which she didn’t understand, but from the looks of it she was attempting to act cute. She sighed, coughing before lying back down on the bed. “I said no. No means no.”

Met nudged her shoulder. “Come on! Surely you don’t want to miss your date! You wouldn’t want to disappoint her, she’s probably waiting for you already. Come on come on you know you want to go so say yes!”

The demon coughed harder, her headache only getting worse with the incessant chirping of the ghost. “We both know you have an external interest that does not regard me,” She emphasised hard on ‘me’, “going on a ‘date’ with a specific demon. Besides, it’s not a date. It’s just a nice dinner between friends.” She fell back against her pillow, too tired to deal with her.

“Whaaaaat? No, no way! Definitely not!” Met tried to deny her point, before continuing on. “But she’ll be so disappointed if you don’t turn up! So you need to go tell her you can’t go! But you’re sick so you just need to say yes and I’ll help you go!”

“I’ll just call her-“

She was quickly interrupted, and could only catch a glimpse of a very familiar phone in Met’s hands. “Oh no, she left her phone here. So you can’t call her-“

“Did you just take her phone so you could do-“

“What? No, she left it on the counter earlier. I wanted to pass it to her, but,” Met nervously laughed, “she’ll probably tear me apart before I can get to it.” She then waved her hands frantically as if to make another point. “Not that I mind! It’s really thrilling!”

Kurotsuno sighed, and the fact that she had a headache was not helping her make a decision. After a while, she resigned herself to the thought, unable to come up with a logical rebuttal at the moment. “Fine, you can use my body, but only to-“

She didn’t even get to finish her sentence before the pain was suddenly lifted from her. Opening her eyes, she found herself in a void, and looked around. Now without distractions, she took into consideration what she had said, and sighed loudly in the void of her head or wherever her conscience went. “I am so going to kill her when she gives me back my body.”

Met, on the other hand, was having the time of her life thinking about her date was going to go. Not being the real host of Kurotsuno, who was in devil knows what land, she didn’t get the same problems from the symptoms, even if they did show on the physical body. 

She got off the bed, finding everything around her was now a little lower to what she was used to. Now, she looked at her... Kurotsuno’s body who was in pyjamas and tsked to herself. Who would wear pyjamas out on a date? Clothes, she then thought, was probably in her drawer, and she quickly pulled out a normal set out before changing into it. Glancing at the mirror, she realised that Kurotsun’s eyes had changed to her red eyes, just like how it would happen to anybody she possessed, and grabbed a pair of sunglasses.

Oh wow! This was so exciting for her! 

Now that any obvious problems with her current possession were covered up, she grinned at herself and did a finger gun at her reflection. Kurotsun should really smile more, she thought as she smiled in the mirror, finding her friend’s face much nicer when she wasn’t scowling.

She heard the door open, and went out of the demon’s room to see Mister Sullivan. Oh right, Kurotsuno was sick, so it made perfect sense that he would come back and check on her. Then, she thought, she might as well give him a surprise before she went off on her date.

“Olivia, I’m back-“ 

“Hi Mist- I mean, dad!” She interrupted him, and smiled at him. Definitely, with how much he wanted to spend time with Kurotsun, it would make sense for him to be overjoyed.

It did not make sense that he stepped back instead, grabbing the door handle. “Ah... you... look fine... that’s good...”

“Yep!” Met kept the act going, finding his reaction rather hilarious. “I thought we could spend some time together! Isn’t that great?” 

He twisted the door knob, clearly shaking as he opened the door. “Yeah, that would be good... listen, I just came back to check on you, I’ll be right back as soon as I get a day off. Haha...” 

Before she could even do anything else, he bolted out of the door and slammed it shut.

Heh! Demons were funny things. But witches, well they were so much better.


	10. Olivia and Kurotsuno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Jekyll and Hyde au

“You’re sure, if I take this, I’ll be much stronger? I can protect people?” Olivia held on to the small vial in her hand even tighter.

The witch looked at her thoughtfully before smiling at her cheekily. “Well, let’s put it this way, you take it, your desires will be answered. Ask me if there are any side effects, I dunno yet.”

She nodded slowly, finding herself even more drawn to the dull colour of the potion. In a world of pitch black where she was an oddity, it made perfect sense to her that she had to be able to protect herself and her father and her friend from the evils (how ironic, she thought, since they were all under the same species) of this world. “Thanks Chlomaki...”

“No problem kiddo, no problem.” She grinned as the little girl took the potion. Oh, this was going to be fun to watch.   
—————————————————  
There was a new girl in town, and no one knew where she came from.

For one, she only appeared at night, then disappeared off into the woods, leaving little to no time to converse with her at all. She was a strange demon with mismatched horns, who seldom spoke, and never smiled.

Hanten felt that she sounded like fun and went off to tell Olivia.

“Did you hear?” She started, missing how one of Olivia’s eyebrows shot up in amusement, and went on. “There’s this supposedly powerful new mystery demon around. She sounds like a lot of fun. I wanna go for a spar with her, but she only appears at night, and no one knows who she is.” The demon sighed loudly as she lied down sideways on Olivia’s lap.

“Is there a lot of talk about her?” Olivia asked, curiosity in her voice, and Hanten nodded in answer. The human looked thoughtful before continuing on. “Maybe... maybe if you go to the bar tonight, that’s where she goes, right? Maybe she’ll be there.”

“Eh, I’ll give it a try. Better than nothing.” She looked up at the clock on the wall before sitting up. “I’d better go, otherwise I won’t have time to get home and then go to the bar to check if she’s there. See you tomorrow!”

If she had just looked behind her at Olivia, she would have seen the human mouth the word ‘later’ instead.  
——————————————  
Much to her surprise, Olivia’s prediction was right. 

She was in the bar. Slowly drinking some black hot fluid, probably coffee, at the counter alone. Not many demons stayed up at night for fear of the actual psycho demons, but it was of no matter to her. Especially since she was one of them.

She ordered a beer before sitting next to the mismatched horn demon, who only raised a brow at her. Stretching out a hand, she began to introduce herself. “I’m-“

“Hanten.” The mystery demon said first, before suddenly looking away from her. Then she looked back at her again, before continuing. “I meant, what you’re wearing. It’s a hanten.”

She looked down, and shrugged at her statement. “Yeah, it’s a hanten. I’m a Hanten too.” She pauses to comprehend her statement. “My name is Hanten, I mean. What’s yours?”

The demon opened her mouth before closing it as she hesitated. “Kuro...tsuno? Yes, that’s my name.”

She found herself amused by her awkward manner of speaking. “Heh. Nice to meet you, Kurotsuno. Whatcha doing today?”  
———————————————  
“So... did you meet this Kur-mystery demon?”

Hanten nodded, lying down against her bed. “Yep! Just like you said, she was at the bar. A little younger than I thought. But she exudes power, and I respect that.”

Olivia seemed pleased at what she said for some reason. “Maybe... maybe you could bring her around. She could be new and needs time to settle down.”

The demon glanced at her strange statement before passing it off as Olivia’s typical kindness. “Eh, I’ll do that. You don’t really like going out anymore at night, hmm?”

“What?”

“I mean, we don’t have our usual night excursions anymore, and you get really tired when it’s going to be night time.” She pointed out, curious to know what her response would be. 

Olivia waved her hands frantically at her. “What? No, I really like them! It’s just that...” She seemed to be torn at how she should answer the question. “...I have homework?”

“Since when did homework ever impact your decision.” She deadpanned, being slightly sceptical at that explanation as the human flinched. This was the first time she had heard that excuse, and it wasn’t even believable.

“Since I... failed math?”

Hanten sighed loudly. “You need a break, come on, let’s go.”


	11. Tail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I really don’t know where I was going with this

Throughout her entire lifetime, there were only two people who seemed to enjoy touching her tail, no matter what she said. Well, technically three, but she counted bodies, not species.

The first person she let touch her tail would be a specific human. Hanten didn’t even remember how their conversation got there. Something about tail feathers and chocolate, and suddenly she found herself unwrapping her tail that she usually kept wrapped on her waist.

It was probably the first time she let it out in public, where people could step on it at anytime. But instead, somehow she had enough trust that the human wouldn’t treat it like trash, and she thought it was a good feeling to have her tail relax once in a while. 

At least, she thought, when Olivia touched it, it was gentle, and it sort of soothed her. And slowly, she lost the habit of keeping it safe.

Then Kurotsuno came along and she was trying to pick up the habit of wrapping it around her waist again. Sometimes, even while that rebel was really predictable, she still had to stay cautious because at any second she would yank her tail hard, wondering how it worked. And honestly, she believed she had the right to be confused. One minute that grey haired demon would be tenderly grabbing her tail, the next thing she knew was that her guts felt like it was being pulled out.

At first, she thought that Hanten was just messing with her. 

After all, she had reasoned, there was no other explanation for how her tail would keep wrapping itself around her arm, or her leg, and even once around her neck. It was very distracting, especially with how much it moved about.

The only reason she realised her assumption was wrong was after she was convinced the other was trying to kill her through strangulation on that last account. That was when she realised that demon tails usually acted on reflex unless the demon was actually putting in effort to control it. Although, Kurotsuno had squinted at her after that explanation, wondering if her reflex was to kill her. It was quickly clarified that her neck had probably been very warm and thus the tail wrapping itself there.

She wondered why didn’t her tail just wrap around herself if that was the case. But then eventually, she got used to it, even ignoring the accounts where it had gone under her clothes to wrap around her body. Just as long as it didn’t distract her too much, it was actually a rather nice presence.

But now, it had gotten to her at last. Her frustration with that long leathery thing that kept waving about. Never mind the fact that it was wrapped around her own waist under her shirt, in a sort of comforting embrace with how soft and smooth it felt, the movement of it was keeping her from being able to focus on reading. Hanten herself didn’t seem to have noticed any of it at all


	12. First date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanten x met first date

Of course it had to be an aquarium date. Of course her luck would deem that for her first date, she would be sentenced to a memory revisit back to that wet disgusting world. 

And the best part of the whole thing was that even after this, she had about a hundred and nineteen more to go. She groaned, slumping against the train seat, already dreading the whole trip before it had even started. And it was in the human world to make things worse, mainly because Met wanted to go for a look see.

To add salt to the injury, Kurotsuno had absolutely no pity for her, instead choosing to berate her at every given moment that she whined about it.

“You agreed to a date every month with her for ten years,” she had stated, a slightly amused smile gracing her face. “So you should honour your word and take her for those dates.”

She should have just given up on pursuing that worthless information when she had the chance. She should have just left their conversation at that juncture.

Instead, here she was regretting that decision.

The doors opened, and she quickly hid her obvious demon features before walking out into the empty train station. Watching a random human board the train, now disguised as one of the normal human trains, she felt pity for this human. It looked like both of them were going to destinations neither of them wanted. Though, in her personal opinion, Mogeko Castle would be much more fun.

Well, Hanten thought as she walked down to meet the ghost- no, her date-for-the-next-ten-years- waiting for her outside the gantry, at least no one could say she didn’t keep her word.

Though, she wondered who exactly was underdressed in their circumstances. Definitely in flamboyancy, Met won with her frilly blue dress, but in practicality she won with her school uniform and jacket that she had tied around her waist. Just casual attire. Exactly. 

Nevertheless, Met grabbed her arm, ignoring the stares she got from her arms being literally black from a bit over the elbow to her fingertips. Another reason why she didn’t like humans. Always so inquisitive and judgemental, though those traits didn’t apply for everyone.

“You’re here!” Met smiled at her, happily tugging her arm as she dragged her along towards the dreaded hell known as an aquarium. “For a minute there, I thought- but it doesn’t matter now!”

“You thought I wouldn’t come?” Hanten asked in surprise. Was she that dishonest? She couldn’t even remember a time that she had broken a promise. But clearly, some jerk was tarnishing her reputation- her attention faltered at the sudden waving of Met’s hands in her face.

“No no, I mean, it was just... unexpected? Ya! Unexpected!” Met laughed nervously, continuing to pull her along.

Girls were the most confusing things in her life, she concluded. “My arrival to a date that I promised you was... what was that word, unexpected?” What did that idiot think, that she would stand her up? Even if it was true that it would make her happy to watch her hopes and dreams get shattered, she had better ways of delivering that other then not showing up. That would have just been rude on her part.

“Anyway!” Met drew her focus away from that topic as they went into the neighbourhood. “So, based on a book I’ve been reading-“

“You read?”

The dramatic gasp of betrayal made her roll her eyes. “I di-“ she quickly changed her original sentence as she glanced at the people around her. “Well, I got into an accident in the middle of my studying years! Of course I can read-“

She stopped her in her tracks before they could get into a full on argument(it wasn’t like she could fight her in the middle of the human world and expose themselves). “No, it’s just, I’ve never seen you pick up a book in Kuro’s house to read. So excuse my skepticism about your ability to read.”

“Eh, oh well.” Met shrugged before going back to her usual self. “But even with you teasing me, I can’t help but just want more of that!”

All she had done was state a matter of fact, but that didn’t really impact her. She thought through the agenda for their date before posing a question of hers. “So you wanted to go to your old home right?”

She nodded enthusiastically before pointing at a house a little further away on the left. “Yeah! Just wanted to see if things at home were running well and then get some money off my parents!”

“...you’re going to rob your parents?”  
“It’s not like they will know! And besides, thumbprints can’t be found cause I’m dead.”  
—————————————————————  
Hanten silently wished that their robbery had gone a little rougher and longer. Then there would be a valid reason for her to cut this date short. And she wouldn’t have to go into the watery dungeons and see those monstrous things known as fish.

But here she was, keeping herself against the wall far away as people, or really couples who thought fishy dates were nice ooh-ed and aah-ed at the tanks of fish. The only reasons she hadn’t just walked out or torn Met apart was because her pride was at stake and she was arguably the person who brought herself into this mess. 

That, and also because she had a hunch Kurotsuno was waiting for her to return with Met’s roasted pieces. She wasn’t going to give her the pleasure of seeing that. Besides, no one got hurt from a few stupid swimming seafood in a huge tank. That would just be stupid.

“Do you like squids?” Met’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to face her. “You’ve been staring at that one for a while.” 

“No...? Why- oh.“ Looking in front of her, she realised there was indeed a squid swimming in front of her, sticking onto the glass panel occasionally as if trying to catch her attention. Stupid things, at least those fish in the blue sea would put up a fight if she wanted to destroy them, even if there was now some defenders in the sea. She had even spoken to a group of mercenaries who told her about the whole epic affair of what went down in the sea. 

The girl next to her pulled onto her shoulder to get her attention again. “Are you okay? You’ve been spacing out quite a bit.”

Nodding over enthusiastically, she kept her face as monotonous as she could. “Yeah... just, you know...” She waved her hands at the tanks, trying to brush off her discomfort. “...fishes! So many... hooray.”

Met looked at her suspiciously, before deciding to brush off her obviously strange behaviour. “Alright then... fish and chips to end it all off? You look a bit sick.”

She wondered if it was possible for her to just murder everyone and then make a run for it. That was starting to sound like a good idea, even if it meant her pride would fall at the end of the whole thing. Kurotsuno, her parents, probably even Chikemuri and Jork, all mocking her because she hated fish way too much. 

Would it be worth it? Well, human flesh was starting to sound delicious despite her promise all those years ago. 

Very worth it then. Not like she hadn’t done that with her own species or the mogekos.

“Uh, not to be rude, but are you okay?”

“Yes? Why?”

“I’ve just never seen you eat salad.”

“Hmm, maybe I just wanted a change of diet today.” 

“Wait a minute,” realisation dawned on Met as she pieced the pieces of the puzzle together. “You don’t like aquariums? Why didn’t you just tell me?”

—————————————————————  
“So how was your date?” Kurotsuno asked as the door opened. She had mainly stayed up to watch a movie, wanting to finish it within the rare silent hours before the two came back. Though, she wouldn’t lie that another partial reason was for her to watch a disgruntled Hanten get her just deserts for disturbing her peace and the bloody pieces of Met for exposing her secret.

What she got for an answer was not at all what she had expected. “Surprisingly better than expected.” Hanten pointed at the sleeping girl on her shoulder. “Could you scoot over? My arm’s getting tired.”

She obliged, and soon Met was sleeping on the sofa while the other stretched her arms. 

Kurotsuno glanced at their attires, surprised to find both of them spotless. “You didn’t tear her apart?”

“Why would I?” Hanten huffed before pulling a seat to sit down on. “She didn’t annoy me too much, and it was the human world, dummy. Not like I would do that and risk being discovered.”


	13. Mogeko March Day 31 2018

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this what we call a Super late unfinished submission

Hanten thought there was no way that she could hate the sea more. 

The beach was fine. Sailing on a boat was fine. But swimming and fishing? Big nopes from her. The worst crime against her would be forcing her to go down into the depths of sea.

But nonetheless, she wasn’t the most ecstatic of people when it came to being near the sea. It was a place swimming with sharks, orcas, fish in general and the occasional weird person.

Today, however, did not begin with a trip to the Sea World. No, in fact, it all started with a trip of her seeing a friend of hers. And because Kurotsuno was busy today, she was tasked with bringing her out and making sure she didn’t do anything stupid to kill herself.

Looking back, could ghosts even kill themselves again? Hanten had many questions about the anatomy of a ghost. She supposed it would be a long shot to ask Met nicely.

It had been a nice visit mostly, with the exception of Met getting a stomachache from the food she ate. And then came the troubling part for her.

“Oh yeah, that’s from a witch, she took one of our new ones saying it was better to use and left hers here.” Tsumuri pointed at a seemingly useless broom at the corner, with the only tell tale sign that it belonged to a witch being the sudden jerking motions it randomly made.

The ghost squealed in delight. “Can I try?” When she got no response, her squeal became more of a screech, and she quickly grabbed the broom to take it outside for a spin.

“That thing doesn’t work anymore, right?”

The centipede shrugged. “Never really saw the point in trying it out-“ He halted mid sentence as they saw Met whizz past the window. “Oh, it does. Good for her.”

The demon sighed, before sticking her head out of the window to get a better look. “Well, she’s ridden a motorbike before,” she said as she watched the other fly out towards the sea, “I’m sure she’ll be...fine.” She trailed off as she noticed that the broom had stopped mid-air, causing both ghost rider and stick to fall into the water with a splash.

The only sign left of the ghost’s disappearance was the pool of red glistening blood in the middle of the pale blue sea.

“Oh no,” his voice was flat and unconcerned, “she’s down in the sea now. Hope she can swim. Better get her from there fast.”


	14. Tall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanten and Kurotsuno compare their heights

“My horns still make me taller than you.”

Kurotsuno growled as the other demoness shrugged. “But in terms of body size, you’re shorter than me. What’s your height again? A hundred and fifty four centimetres?”

“I’ll have you know I’m a hundred and sixty you idiot!” She roared out in frustration. For some reason, her friend was able to infuriate her no matter which topic she picked out. Only the gods knew why she hadn’t murdered her yet other than the fairly obvious reason. 

“Really? Must have been from all the chocolate you’ve been eatin’. Though definitely you have grown taller...” A grin surfaced on her face, “...horizontally.”

She wondered if Hanten had a death wish, clenching her fists in an attempt to calm herself down. “Are you calling me fat?”

The admittedly taller girl looked away thoughtfully. “Not exactly the word I was going for, dummy. Huggable, more like. Besides, we already know each other’s waist size. The one with the smallest size doesn’t belong to either of us.” She then picked a more sing song tune to continue her point. “Besides besides, no shame, no shame in being a little plump. It helps ya grow in a few more places, and keeps your organs warm!”

Kurotsuno took a few steps away as a safety precaution. With her ever so carefree way of speaking, it made it a bit hard for herself to determine if she was joking or having some sort of hidden implied meaning. After all, she would not put it beyond her to try something that was either sexual or cannibalistic in nature.

She snapped out of her thoughts as the other snapped her fingers in front of her face. “Say say, maybe if I gave you a bit of incentive to grow through a challenge, wouldja take it?”

“Grow in what sense?” She gave a seething glare at her. If she dared to make one more fat joke...

Hanten feigned innocence. “Height obviously, dummy. We’re still sort of in our growing stages, so it’s not too big of an issue.”

“You have the obvious height advantage.” She looked away as she hissed out. Truth be told, she wanted nothing more than to shove the other’s face into the floor. It would be so easy, to grab her by the horn and just slam her into the floor...

“Yeah, and you’re still growing way more than me, late bloomer. Look, you can use any method to try” there was some sort of emphasis on the word try “to get taller than me. But it’s gotta be your natural height.”

“And what do I get if I do get taller? What do you get if you win?”

She looked a little thoughtful. “Eh, let’s put it this way. The loser owes their hand to the winner-“

“You want me to rip off my hand for this stupid competition?” She asked incredulously, before the Hanten waved her hand to get her to listen to her.

“Not in the literal sense, dumbo! Why would I wanna give you my hand literally? I mean, like, to swear an oath, or have it put into something... I might go for the second option, actually. Your hand in blood would be delicious.”


	15. Chikemuri’s mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chikemuri doesn’t deal well with finding out about Hanten’s return

“Your sister is coming home for dinner.”

He felt his world shatter at those seven words. Just when he thought that his life could get better

“You can invite a friend over as well too, then.”

“Just don’t let it be Jork lest you piss her of. Again.”

And who better than his mentor, he thought.  
————————————  
“No promises. I promised a friend of mine that I’ll be having dinner at her house.” She huffed, taking the piece of paper from his hand. “I’ll see if I can go.”

Chikemuri nodded enthusiastically, smiling a bit at her. “That’s good. I really appreciate your help!” He checked his watch before paling as he was late to meet Jork. “Thanks! See ya!”

She waved at him half heartedly, turning back to walk into her house, opening the invitation before scrunching up her eyebrows. Then her head tilted as she looked in confusion at the scrawled address on the paper before pulling out her phone to check her message history.

“Isn’t this... they live in the same house?”  
———————————————  
It was the first time in a few decades that she had finally decided to come home. Not that he was complaining.

Maybe, maybe if he was lucky, she would have to go on the defensive! She never used weapons from what he could have remembered. 

Though, he thought as he got a good look at her, what was with all her sudden changes? Had she dyed her hair? It was now grey, and her horns... He had learnt not to ask questions about this sort of weird thing.

Chikemuri took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He could do this. He had taken lessons... surely he was strong enough now!

Hesitantly, he summoned his trident, which was albeit still smaller than that of his teacher, before he aimed at his unsuspecting sister’s back. If he could just gather the courage to do this, she would know that she should never mess with him again.

He took a deep breath, his arm still shaky, before plunging his weapon down into her back, earning a surprised gasp from her. Had he done it?

His sister turned around slowly, eyes looking rather surprised as she glanced between her brother and the three blades of the trident that had just pierced through her chest. The rice at her mouth dropped to the ground, and one could have sworn Chikemuri’s heartbeat was as unsteady as the rhythm falling rice.

Even dad and mom had put their cutlery down, wanting to see how she would react. With how their faces looked... just for good measure, he summoned another of his tridents and stabbed her through the stomach. Maybe that would deter her from trying to kill him now that she knew he could sort of defend himself-

And then she did the most unorthodox thing and slid her finger across her bloodied chest and stuck the now bloody finger into her mouth.

“Uh...” Chikemuri started, unsure of how to react. Had she gone pacifist in the last few decades, and now he was being the jerk to a newly improved sister? That couldn’t be, right? Or was she just stupid now? No, surely she was just confused and did that in a moment of shock.

He wanted to continue his brave facade before he noticed she narrowed her eyes and had this unreadable look before she muttered just loudly enough for them to hear. 

“Pity, pity...”

Pity what? He tried to play on with his act. Surely that was the way to go, that was how he had to prove his worth. Chikemuri cleared his throat. 

“Yeah! Pity you can’t uh... bully me anymore! I learnt how to protect myself-“

She raised a hand to stop him, wiping her blood covered finger against her even bloodier clothes. “No, pity that this wasn’t a prank.”

“Wha-what?” He stepped back, trying to comprehend what was going on.

Hanten wiped the trail of blood that was dripping from her mouth before pulling out the trident in her back and then using it to point at her stained food. “I literally come home after so long for a nice meal, and you’ve ruined my dinner. It’s not nice to be backstabbed by a sibling, you know that?”

“I- but I- I worked so hard, and-“

She held out the two tridents in her hands before snapping them into half, allowing them to dissipate into the air. “Face it, these two are just glorified forks. You wanna see what a real weapon looks like? Well...”

The youngest demon in the family glanced at the door behind him as a trail of flame emerged on both hands of his should-have-been victim. Would he be able to make it? Probably not, but it would’ve been a good try. Could- no, would his parents help him? Probably not. They probably were getting a kick out of this.

The dangerous glint in her eyes made him rather nervous as he backed towards the door. Compared to the previous rabid and psychotic looks that she had given him before beating him to an inch of his life, this look might as well have had a huge sign that said “it would be kinder for you to die than face my wrath”. 

It certainly didn’t help when two weapons emerged, one a katana, and the other a huge scythe. 

“I was going to spare you today,” he looked at her as he shakily opened the door, “but you’ve just proven you want a proper private lesson on manners.”

As he ran out, he could hear the threat of death coming at him.

“So you’re going to be my dinner today.”  
—————————————  
“So let me get this straight.”

Kurotsuno sighed loudly as she looked across the still rather enraged friend of hers and her now dismembered ‘student’. “He thought it would be a good idea to stab his sister while she was having dinner?”

Gyakuten nodded,unphased by the whole even as he looked out of the window to get a good look at the beat up. “Yep. Not the brightest one, or the best one in the family, but he’s got guts.”

The mismatched horn demon groaned before pulling up a seat. “Idiot. He does know he’s trying to use her moves against her, which she has counters for, right? Not like I’d learn anything from dad.”

A scream pierced through the air, but no one gave a shit about it as they continued their dinner. After all, it was certain that Chikemuri brought this wrath upon himself. Though...

“So, when’s the wedding?”

Kurotsuno choked on the meat in her mouth, some of the rice spewing up from her nose. Not the most glamorous moment for her. She wiped away the mess before looking at Chishibuki. “Wha-what wedding?”

Gyakuten laughed at her shocked face. “Come on now, you don’t just invite a girl to dinner with her parents if not to introduce her.” He quickly cleared his throat. “Not that we don’t know each other.”

Kurotsuno tried to wave them off. “Wait, no, I’m not here because of a wedding or whatnot, I’m just here to help Hanten explain why she’s like that-“

Her words fell on deaf ears as the other two started discussing loudly about future grandchildren.


	16. Sibling relationship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was going to be more but I gave up
> 
> Basically why Chikemuri and Hanten have such a bad relationship

He supposed he should have died back then, at his birth. Then he wouldn’t have experienced all the horrors that he was bound to face when growing up.

It had been on his birth date that her status as an only child expired. Their parents had just named him, and he had heard the stories of how he seemed to fuse his parents features together. His short tail, his mix of hair, they said he was the cutest child they had ever had. 

In front of their daughter.

Perhaps they should have said ‘son’ and not ‘child’ to prevent what happened in the next few seconds. From what he had heard, there was a butter knife summoned, and from there it got embedded in his stomach. He supposed the name he was given was rather apt, given that a spray of blood erupted out of his wound. 

Of course, there were screams, and a harsh scolding was given outside the room by their father to her. As if a harsh scolding was enough to deter her from the hell that she would give him. They were both but stubborn children, and neither of them were willing to give up for the other. Or at least, that was how it was at first.

After that incident, she was given a room, so that it would be guaranteed that she wouldn’t murder him in their parents’ bedroom while they slept.

He supposed he could understand where she was coming from, with her sadistic tendencies that she mostly withheld from him, which only served to terrify him knowing that she could be a lot worse. Why wouldn’t he? They had the same parents. He had seen how they treated her like some prized possession, and him a fragile vase in danger of breaking.

Okay, he was sure she hadn’t meant to hurt him, since neither of them knew about his allergy back then, but that whole experience made him horribly sick.

The demon in heels had come home. 

Hooray.

She flashed a small childish smile towards him, something that any fool would have thought cute if they weren’t related and weren’t the younger sibling in the relationship.

“Besides, let’s put it this way.” Her smile seemed to match their parents as she forced him down onto his own bed. 

“If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else. And if it was someone else, well,” she drew a line across her neck with her index finger as she casually said that, almost as if she wasn’t forcing something down his throat to suffocate him. “They would do something so much worse, you know?”

Something worse? He twisted around, trying to get out of her iron grip, trying to push out his shirt that she had stuffed into his mouth. If he didn’t know better, he would have been more worried of what sort of incestuous things passed through her mind. But no, she was just sadistic, enjoying his screams.


	17. Feathers

This was not working out for her.

Kurotsuno stretched her arm, trying to reach the edges of her wings to no avail. Of course it had to be the day when she was supposed to go moon watching that her wings decided ‘hey let’s just annoy our master by making it difficult to fly!” Of course it had to be on that day that they did just that.

To be fair, she never really had to deal with this problem within her years of living because she never really bothered summoning them. So it was perfectly explainable as to why she was struggling with the process of, ah, what had he called it again? Preening. Right, preening her wings. The day she used her beak to arrange her feathers would be the day the flame world would freeze over, so she could only resort to using her claws. Which was not very effective anyway.

She was about to sigh, resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to go for that day before registering that there were footsteps outside her door. And sure enough, the instant they stopped, there was knocking on her door, and she could guess who it was. “Just come in, it’s unlocked.”

Hanten swung open the door, hair messed up, clearly due to her being woken up recently. “Hey, are you going- okay, you’re busy.” She raised her brow, looking at the bloodied wings with very ruffled feathers. “Reina they all are downstairs, she woke me up to ask you if you wanted to go for the Mid Autumn festival, but I’ll just take it that you’re busy and leave you alone, alright?”

Right. The mid autumn festival. The one day in the year that the moon was closest to their world. Of course it had to be today of all days. A thought went through her head, and she debated over it quickly before coming to a consensus. “Wait... can you just...” she trailed off, unsure if she should ask someone who was clearly untrained in the art of preening feathers. But then again, her pride would go to hell if she just called him just to force him to help her. Especially when it came to the context of getting someone else to preen her wings...

“Just what?” She snapped back into reality, and schooled her face before sighing in resignation.

“Could you...just adjust my feathers. They’re annoying me a lot.” Kurotsuno groaned as she heard some snickering from the other. Oh she was not going to forget this moment of weakness.

“My my.” She watched the red eyed demon grin at her. “Finally the rebellious girl has started to ask for help after, I dunno, three hundred years?”

She was so tempted to slap her there and then. “Shut up. Just tell them to go without us and help me.”

The clearly amused demon smirked before walking out a few steps and then yelling something incomprehensible to her. Forever with her antics, of course. Though, she had to admit, sometimes as ridiculous as the other could get, it could be pretty hilarious at times. At least she still had a sense of humour.

She regretted ever thinking that however, because as soon as that thought ended, she had returned, and then bowed towards her mockingly as if she was some sort of performer. “Done. So what about your feathers?”

“Just listen to me and arrange them.”


	18. Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Nataka and Tomoe became friends, and how I gave up

I.  
Nataka felt absolutely miserable.

Not that it was anything new.

It had only been a month since Elco switched schools, and she felt so empty. Then again, she felt like that for the entire month. It was almost like she was her lucky charm, and now that she had lost it, all sorts of bad things were happening to her. 

And the beginning of the term was supposed to be a summary of her life for the rest of that term too. She sighed as she grumbled under her breath, looking down on the ground.

“Hey! That’s mean!

She didn’t even bother to shake her hand, and instead turned around to walk away from this schoolmate of hers.

II.  
As it turned out, they were in the same class.

Just fantastic.

III.

IIII.

“Just leave me alone, will you? Irritant.” 

IIIII.  
Nataka didn’t remember how she ended up under the shade of a tree, but that was where she woke up. She surveyed her surroundings before looking down at her clothes. Ah, right, it was the sports festival, and there was some marathon she was forced to run... Moving her limbs around, she found that there were some bandages on her knee caps and elbows. Ah. She must have collapsed-

Then a bottle of water was pushed towards her face, interrupting her train of thought. Slightly startled, she turned to face the girl who was kneeling next to her before glancing back at the bottle. Wasn’t she that pesky girl who kept trying to befriend her or something? She huffed before holding onto the bottle. “What do you want?”

Tomoe frantically waved her hands at her, almost as if she was a little scared. Who could blame her, especially after she had given her the cold shoulder? “Ah, no no! It’s nothing liddat! You...you just fainted half way in the race earlier, so I...” She gestured towards the bandages before looking away. “Sorry. I couldn’t do nothin’.”

She glanced at her, narrowing her eyes a bit. It didn’t seem like she had any ill intent, so why bother apologising? “...what was that for?”

“Eh? Whatcha mean?”  
“The sorry bit. Why did you apologise?”

“Um... you said you wanted to be left alone, but I... yeah.” To her, it was clear that Tomoe had only acted in the heat of the moment, from how awkward she was now that she was certain that she was fine. “Well... I’ll be goin’. I... wouldn’t want ta disturb ya-“

She held out a hand to stop her, sighing a bit. Since it seemed like she was going to see this annoyance every other day, she supposed that they might as well get to know each other better. “Yahata-san, was it?”

“Yeah, but you can call me Tomo-“

She ignored her comment before pushing against her head to get up. “Thanks, friend.”

The small gasp and squeal that followed was nothing short of what she expected.


	19. Behind the scenes of Mogeko castle: Nightmare Trio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This follows after the original Behind the scenes of Mogeko castle following Tomoe and Rika

Kurotsuno huffed as she closed the lid of a box that she had searched.

It was just filled to the brim with toys, all clean and ready to use. But that wasn’t her motive, to look for phallic and electric objects to make her happy. No, it was just her alone, looking for a much more fragile object that gave her a will to live.

Which she had managed to lose again for the umpteenth time. Damnit. She should really start putting a tracker on it.

Sighing as she left the room disillusioned, she began to lose hope of ever finding her phone again. Perhaps she would have to ask Sullivan for one again using the old reliable method. Get him drunk. Guilt trip him. Promise him pain if not compliant-

“Moge moge~ so fun! And smells like girl’s sweat too!”

She stopped in her tracks, turning to face a door of the room she had yet to search along the corridor. Usually, she wouldn’t bother if she had heard the pants and heavy breathing from behind the door. That just meant that something was pleasuring themselves.

However, she was not taking any chances with her phone. She slammed the door open, and the yellow creature, still having an expression of lust, jumped. Kurotsuno looked down, and her eyes flashed when she noticed a black object in its hands, halfway up into its hole. If it had managed to destroy-

Without wasting any more time, she dashed over and slammed the heel of her shoe into its groin, sending the mogeko flying as the black object fell onto the floor. She nearly picked it up before retracting her hand as the light reflecting on the shiny liquid informed her that it was not rectangular. Thank goodness for that, she thought as she walked away, ignoring the groaning creature a distance away. She would have hated to clean off the disgusting white unholy thing from it.

Oh, where oh where could her phone be?  
——————————  
“Where the hell is she?!” 

Met waved her hands down, trying to placate her homeslice who was getting increasingly more frustrated. “Ah... I’m sure she’s not too far away! Probably in one of the upper levels, I’m sure!”

She lifted up a pink object, cheerily waving it overhead. “They’ve got loads of these adult toys here!”

Hanten glanced at the object before staring at her. Then, she immediately slapped her hand, making her drop the toy. “Absolutely not. Those are only...used by the lower scum 

—————————  
“Huh, do ya feel like there’s something happenin’ upstairs?”

Both demons glanced towards their servant before looking up at the direction that she was pointing at. True to her word, there was quite a bit of running around above them, and a cloud of dust from the ceiling dropped down as there was suddenly stamping across the room above them.

Kurotsuno wiped the dust off the phone that she had painstakingly found after searching the castle thoroughly. “It’s annoying. Geez, if they’re going to run about, they should at least soundproof them. You’d think they would do it, what with all the...lewd things they do.”

“Lewd things...” Hanten’s brows creased, before she closed her eyes in thought, then grinning as if a thought had hit her. “Heh. Lewd things, they are lewd things, so they do the do with themselves. Nice joke there, Kuro.”

“It wasn’t a joke.” She huffed, stuffing her phone into an inner pocket of her jacket as she looked back up. The rumble above them stopped, and though there were murmurs, the dust clouds weren’t as big now. 

Met piped up as the noise level above them lowers. “Bet you that the ruckus’ from that human that we saw earlier,” she pulled at her hair, pretending to have pigtails, “you know, that one that looked like a high school girl!”

Kurotsuno closed her eyes, trying to recall. “Hmm... human... ah.” She lifted her head in recognition before sighing. “I hope she dies.”

“Woah!” Hanten grinned, snorting as she laughed. “That’s a little harsh, isn’t it? To wish that upon yo-their kind? Thought you would be all benevolent and help her out.” She clicked her tongue before looking up. “Dumbass. Should have just followed us. But I’d probably have eaten her anyway.”  
————————  
“Wow, there’s loads of food!”

Lord Prosciutto waved a hand towards the table, giving them the sign to eat. “There’s plenty more. The kitchens have a lot of snacks.”

Kurotsuno glanced at the once human girl. They had met her before, as she was trying to escape from the madness. At that time, she had wished the best to her. Clearly, her wishes had not helped. She sighed as she turned to pick up a chocolate biscuit. “What’s with the buffet treat here?”

The girl with the past king’s head shrugged. “I simply thought it would be best to get to know the visitors that frequent the castle. Check if they find anything unpleasant. Do some damage control.”

“Damage control?” Hanten swallowed the chunk of pork, drinking a bit of cola to facilitate it before jerking her thumb towards a painting of the ever familiar mogeko. “What does that mean, we can’t kill them?”

She shook her head, taking her glass to drink it. “On the contrary, please feel free to come over and kill them as much as you like. They are but creatures made from nightmares, it’s best to not let them proliferate too much.”

“Is that right...” Kurotsuno leaned forward to pick up another biscuit before finding that she couldn’t seem to get any in her grasp. Looking down, the reason was clear to her. “Could I have more-“

She nodded at her, interrupting her obvious question. “Of course.” She turned towards the dark corridor and hollered, jerking a chain that was mysteriously on the floor. “Moge-ko! More biscuits!”

Shyly, yet with an expression that screamed ‘fuck you’, Moge-ko stepped forward, muzzle tied around her head as if she was a dog, while the collar and chains on her neck clinked as she scuttled towards them, leaving the plate hesitantly on the table before flinching at the pat on her head, turning around to see her Lord smile and point back towards the corridor.

“Woah, she’s real obedient!” Met grinned at the subservient girl who glared daggers at her before retreating to obey her Lord’s wishes.

Hanten glanced at her, brows raised as she placed her glass of cola down on the table. “Unlike a very specific ghost who literally finds it in her to break commands and thwart our plans.”

“Oh, man, who’s it?” She turned to face her, still cheery. Probably an effect from the sugary food that she had eaten. “Sounds like they’ve lots of things to worry about-“

“It’s you, dumbass.” The demoness drawled, giving her an unamused face before a thought came to mind. A grin tugged at her cheeks, and soon she leered over her. “I wonder... maybe I should do the same to you?”

Met looked at her, her smile very uncertain as she thought of how lewd the whole scene would be. Her, in a leash and muzzle. In front of... a trail of blood started to drip down from her head to her chin at that thought as her face flushed. “I-I mean...if you want to...”

The demoness, who was not on the same line of thought, raised a brow at her reaction before rolling her eyes and turning back to her food. “I’ll probably save that for another day though, because apparently torture isn’t enough to make you learn.”

“Humiliating her would help as well. I find it very useful in disciplining rebellious scum,” Lord Prosciutto added helpfully, ignoring the stare from the ghost whose eyes flitted between them as both of them nodded in quiet agreement.

The rest of the buffet passed in peace.


	20. Too fast

It all happened so fast.

They had made plans to leave. It was supposed to be perfect, with the main idea that she would leave this forsaken land and start a new life in another world. After all, there was nothing in this world with grey skies that could fix this, so why stay here, in this world that was designed to make everyone sad?

She had written a letter and left it on the table to explain what she was doing. And then, as agreed, she had slipped out under the cover of the night to run towards the barren hills, planning to meet her dear friend so that they could go to her world instead. It was as perfect a plan that two children could create, and she fully trusted in that ideal future they had both thought of, where both of them would be all happy, alone with no one to bother them.

And that ideal dream broke apart so easily when he found them.

One moment Hanten was standing by her side, hand grasping onto hers as they stood side by side, ready to escape. The next moment she was suddenly in front of her, letting out a cry before she crumpled to the ground. Her eyes widens as she sees the glyphs of the ground that disappear shortly, slowly stepping back as her eyes followed the disappearing trail when she noticed his towering figure though he’s still far away. It’s an ever familiar presence, only this time, it no longer had a kind and gentle smile to greet her, but instead a smug grin, as if he already knew how futile her escape plan was. Shakily, she points at him, terrified by how quick he was to turn to violence. Surely... surely he wouldn’t do the same to her? So she squeaks, as if threatening him would even work with that frightened voice. That was as good as a threat from a mouse to a lion. 

“I’ll never... never forgive you....”

He tilts his head, as if he doesn’t understand

There’s a slight whimper, and she 

“No...Don’t go!”

“STOP!!!”

“I made it this far... because you were there... so why...”

A smile forms on the other girl’s face that doesn’t quite match the trail of tears falling from her. She jolts in realisation that this is the first time she’s seen her crying. Even when she got into fights, no matter how huge the wound, there would be an arrogant laughter as she recounted the story of that injury. So... she clenches her teeth, and though she knows that he’s coming for them, she swings her hands under her arms before dragging her as best as she could away towards their exit. The demon in her arms shakes her head frantically, struggling out of her grasp, telling her to run away, that she can find someone else to turn to once she’s far away from this wasteland, and she protests as she pulls her along, wishing that she wasn’t so heavy as she gave her her reason for doing so.

“No, only you.”

Only she had been there for her throughout, after all. There’s a small chuckle that follows before she feels that she’s being pushed away, and she looks down to see Hanten weakly pawing against the hands on her wrist. Before she can even stop her, a pair of wings push against her suddenly, and she drops her in surprise as she looks down. There’s this particular look on her face that she despises as she whispers to her to run, to leave her there, maybe even go back to them. It’s almost as if she doesn’t expect to live through this.

“Shut up!!!”

She can’t focus. It’s almost entirely silent, and yet there’s a high pitched sound at her ears, and everything’s blurred around her in her fear and panic. What should she do? What could she even do? She was useless, and watching the life ebb out of her friend only serves to remind of her of that. Instantly, she calls on a past favour, and something feels like it’s leaving. 

But before she can fully process that, at the corner of her eye, she sees glyphs forming around them, and she doesn’t even think as she moves to take the brunt of it.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Everything hurts. Her surroundings seem to swirl around her, and she can’t make sense of the white, black and grey around her. So she grips on to the red in front of her as she coughs. What comes out of her burning throat tastes of iron, and she can feel it drip from the side of her chin onto the clothes of the other girl.

“It’s so hot... It hurts..........”

Is this... is this how she would die?

Then, as sudden as the pain had started, a more liberating force came over her. Unconsciously, a grin forms on her face, and the perpetrator before her no longer looks as menacing as he did before. She gets up, and she feels a sense of power, almost as if something unlocked in the midst of the growing pain. Her vision seems mu

“I’m sorry, .....I can’t be strong like you.”

“Now, let me have my revenge.”

“Goodbye.”

It all happened so fast.

The memories of their fight were now reduced to a blurred haze, with random flashes. She would claw at him, do everything that she could to just hurt him, give him back what he had given her, and he would fend her off, trying to dodge the unpredictable attacks that she would throw at him. 

In the corner of her eye, she could see a cloaked figure swinging a scythe that was about to touch her friend, and she nearly diverted her attention to call out to her to watch out for them when unhinged laughter resounded. The scythe of the cloaked figure was held back, a single black hand holding onto it, and it was at that moment from her blank face that she knew

Then he pulled off her horn, and her world turned black as she collapsed, barely conscious as she watched him walk away, and silently, she swore that 

But what she did remember was a seemingly scorched outstretched hand towards her, and she looked up, she took it.


	21. Crows and chocolates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanten mistakes a crow for Kuro

Hanten was having a pretty great morning. 

For one, it was a pretty cooling day, and it was also calming from the sound of falling rain that was occasionally punctuated by the thunder.

Or, at least, it was a great morning, until she felt pokes on her stomach.

All she had been doing was lying down on the sofa when she felt those stupid few pokes. 

So she swatted them away, only for the pokes to continue on her hand. Still not willing to wake up, she grumbled before opening an eye. “Geez, can you cut it out? I’m tryna sleep here...” The demoness trailed off as a minute thought came to mind. Wait a minute. Wait just a damn minute. She was alone, or for the most part anyway with Met probably somewhere in the house. 

Though, she liked to believe there was more than just gas in that girl’s brain that she wouldn’t try to poke her awake.

Sitting up, she momentarily wondered what was poking her before she felt something feathery brush against her palm. A bird? She didn’t remember taking away anything to eat. So she grabbed onto the thing, finding it rather squishy from the water that it seemed to be drenched in as she looked down.

It was a bird. A young fledgling crow, to be specific.

Not feeling too hungry, she huffed and tossed it out. Probably a stray crow, trying to take shelter in the rain.

Then she felt a sharp jab and hissed, slapping the crow away before glaring at it. “Go away. Before I really decide to eat you, and there’ll be nothing left but feathers and bones, that I can promise.”

The bird didn’t budge. If anything, it seemed to think for a while before acting frantic, cawing loudly as it shook off the water from its feathers. What an annoying bird. Did it have some other business here that required her or something? She didn’t think she’ll need to face that again after the other time that a particular animal needed her help.

“Can’t you just shoo away? Tryin’ ta sleep here-“

Then something in her mind clicked together. 

Kuro. Crow. They sounded similar, so that must mean- Perhaps it was the fact that she had just woken up, or the part where the alcohol she had ingested the previous night was still in her system, but whatever it was, her brain wasn’t working as well as it usually did that particular morning. But in any case, a single thought that sounded so logical then came to her mind.

She grabbed onto the young fledgling, getting a surprised squawk as she brought it to eye level.

“Kuro? Is that you?” 

The bird only stared at her before nodding and giving a loud caw, and she felt like the dummy had just agreed. Of course. Now it all made sense, what with how the crow got into the house safely. The dumbass must have been trying to get home quickly in the rain and turned herself into a crow. 

Then... why hadn’t she changed back?

But now she couldn’t change back. How had she not seen the connection earlier? 

...Oh, geez, that was bad, wasn’t it?

“It’s okay!” Met suddenly pulled out a witch’s hat and placed it on her head before grabbing a spell book seemingly out of thin air. “I’ve been takin’ a few lessons from Chlomaki! And there’s totally a spell in here that can probably change Kurotsun back!”

She stared at the ghost for a second before looking down at the crow in her hands, mumbling under her breath. “Where did she even get all those things from? From her a-“

“Anyways!” A loud thump got her attention as Met slammed the book down onto a table, flipping the

“So? Fix her then.”

“Not yet, not yet! Chlomaki said that before I could do any magic, I haveta do a magical girl thing?

“What, become a magical girl thing-“ She stopped mid sentence as she watched the rather bizarre scene of her... dancing? Well, she was pretty sure that Pitch Witch back then was joking, but it seemed that Met had taken her words to heart.

“But... then...” She stared at the silent crow which seemed like it was rather enjoying itself as it pecked on the last piece from the bag

Then the bird finally talked.

“Welp. Cover’s blown. Thanks for the food.”

Getting over her momentary shock, she growled before reaching out to swat at it. Taking her for a fool, if only she was slightly more awake, she wouldn’t have fallen for that dirty trick. “Why you- get back here-“ 

“Well, guess some punishment is in line for both of you.” She froze at that statement, silently recognising that there was a sudden distant look from the demon. 

She felt the pressure that she had not felt for a long while lift from her shoulders as she looked at their servant. “Met’s going to clean the house all by herself.”

Then the pressure fell back and nearly crushed her. 

“And as for you,” Kurotsuno turned to face her, going quiet momentarily before a sadistic grin spread across her face, and the primal instinct of fear was pounding in her ears as she continued. There was no way that spelt anything good for her. 

“You’re going to do me a favour.”

For the first time in a long while, she gulped.  
———————————  
Met yawned as she slumped next to the uptight demon. Geez, who knew that cleaning the whole house would be so difficult? All sorts of cobwebs and dust, plus all her blood dripping onto the floor that made the whole thing so difficult to clean... but still! She did it!

She looked over to the other girl before deciding that she had some liberty to complain for a short while. “Ah, it was so tiring, having to clean the whole house by myself...” 

Kurotsuno closed her eyes before clenching her teeth together. “Hmph. You got off easy.”

“Huh? What did you get her to do?”

“I made her get the sea salt caramel chocolate for me.”

“How’s that a punishment in any way? No offence, but I’m pretty sure dear homeslice can get some chocolate. Besides, the only thing that would hurt would be her wallet.”

“Oh, but it’s not just any kind of chocolate. It’s sea salt caramel chocolate.” There was a slightly unsettling grin, and Met felt that she was a little scarier than usual as she continued, occasionally chuckling a bit. “Which they only sell in the shops under the sea other than our world. Too bad that it’s a best seller and the next shipment isn’t in weeks.”

“I had to grab it from the sea! I had to go into the sea! I FELT THE DAMNED THING’S FIN BRUSH AGAINST MY HAND WHEN IT PASSED ME THE DUMB BAG!”

“What’s so bad about the sea? We always go to the beach.


	22. The way friendships are made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How hanten and Olivia became friends

To be very fair, she hadn’t exactly planned on making a rest stop before heading into the city.

All Hanten had planned to do was to go into the city where there was a shady bar. That also happened to have a nice narrow alley next to it where the components of her dinner would conveniently do some illegal deals in it. 

Hey, at least she was making sure they would never do something illegal again.

It was that it just so happened that there was a looking rather furnished house in the woods that had an open window on the second floor that made her enter the house to get a snack. After all, inhabited houses meant people lived there, which meant stocked up fridges, which in turn meant food. 

Or at least that was how she associated the whole thing. 

And if she was to see anybody in the house, she would simply just introduce herself before eating with them. 

Or rather, just do the latter without the ‘with’ in it.

Of course, once she had slipped inside, the floorboards creaked underneath her feet, making her pause as she waited for anyone, anything, to scurry and check out the noise.

Nothing. Not even a sign apart from the distinct smell of human, though that was to be expected, to tell her that someone lived in the house, but no hints to tell her that someone was in the house currently.

Oh well. That just meant more food for her in the fridge. So she had let her guard down and walked down the stairs towards the kitchen. The house looked pretty normal, with some pictures hung up haphazardly, almost like a small child had done it. The contents didn’t really matter to her, however. It was supposed to be a quick trip before she headed back home without any of family members knowing.

Once she had gotten to the kitchen, she was surprised by how desolate the whole place looked. For such a huge house, it definitely didn’t look like there were many people who lived in it. 

Before she could process it, however, she felt like something was creeping up behind her.

And then the next thing she knew,

PUTONG!

That was the last thing she remembered before waking up to find herself in this particular predicament.

Tied to a chair with ropes, her arms tied behind her and legs tied to the legs of the chair she was sitting on, her chest barely able to move from how taut the ropes were. Fortunately for her, she could last a little longer without as much air since the idiot who tied her up clearly did not realise that people needed to breathe.

She scanned around the room, looking for the perpetrator before her eyes fell on someone else that was peeking out from under the table a little further away. It was obvious once she noticed the crimson eyes, and the silhouette of the girl soon formed. Hanten rolled her eyes.

“You know, I don’t bite. You can come out from there.”

The silhouette stood up, a pan in her hand as she tilted her head, voice filled with skepticism. “Really?”

“Yep. I don’t bite.” A shit eating grin formed on her face at that. “I kill. And I guarantee that it’s be much better for you to untie me right now and give you a quick death.”

Unphased, human girl walked closer to her, arms crossed as she rolled her eyes. “Nah. I like having a slow death. Preferably when I’ve lived out my time. So no untying you.”

“I can literally rip these ropes apart. And end your life right now for doing this.”  
“Wanna bet?”

Did she seriously think that a few ropes, along with the circle of salt and sage, could restrain her? It wasn’t like she was invited into the house, she was already a knowing intruder for one, along with the fact that she wasn’t affected by sage. Maybe some bullshit ghost would be, but not her. She gave a deadpan face, wanting the girl in front of her to know she should have just untied her as she pushed against the ropes.

Only, she couldn’t.

No matter how much she pushed against the rope, it refused to budge. Not a single sign of stretching or breaking from the pure strength that she was putting in.

...Okay, so maybe this girl was onto something.

“...”

“What,” the girl in front of her asked with fake bravado, a smirk slowly forming on her face, “can’t think of anything to say?”

She shook her head, shrugging as best as she could with her shoulders restricted in movement. What were those things even made of? She might as well just buy time while she tried to find a way out of her predicament.

“Oh no, I’m just thinking of how kinky this whole situation is.”

A confused and questioning look came upon the human girl, clearly going through several emotions from that statement, and she would have laughed at how ridiculous she looked if she could even breathe with how tight the ropes were bound around her torso. 

“Wha-what?”

She glanced down at the ropes that were binding her to the chair, using her fingers to point at her ‘bondages’. “I mean, I got knocked out, found myself tied to a chair, leaving me very open and vulnerable to you doing who knows what to me. Sure sounds kinky, especially with how you tied me up.”

The human spluttered, and a smirk came to her face. So she was one of those kind, the act all strong but is actually all blushy kind, ha. Watching her get all flustered like that, trying to compose herself enough to say something against her seemed pretty interesting.

She might as well just have fun with this set up. After all, this was something so rare that she would likely never experience again.

Then again, to be very fair, she probably didn’t expect that this wouldn’t be her last encounter with the girl.


	23. The case of the missing helmet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Met loses her helmet and tries to find it

HOME, 3.00 AM  
It had been a day just like any other.

A day where yet again, the sun doesn’t exist, and only the faint light from the luminescent lightbulbs show the way through Kurotsuno’s house. Yes, it was a day just like any other, and if it hadn’t been for my thorough search and investigation throughout the house for my precious item, it would have probably passed for a normal day. But no, unfortunately it was not, for the one thing that brought me great joy and happiness was missing!

“I’m pretty sure there are plenty other things that make you happy. That are not your helmet.”

A voice from behind brought me back to my surroundings, and instantly I turned around, and true to her word, I see my friend, Reina, walking down the stairs, her true emotions hidden behind that intricate mask of hers. Yes, it is true that there are other things that make me happy (like my headphones, my job, or a very certain homeslice of mine ahhh), but, my helmet is one of the most wonderful things this world this world has to offer! It is made of good stuff, is really comfortable, can be customised and is very very very expensi-

“Yes, we know! Now will you please, please stop talking about your missing headphones? I’m trying to find a strat to win Reina, damnit, and you’re being noisy at the moment!”

Lowering my voice to answer to that request, I survey the room. The other inhabitants of the house are sitting around, casually doing their own things. Bis is setting up the othello game as Reina walks to the table. At the table, are both of my dearest friends- 

“Gee, way to make us feel special, cause we’re your friends, but they’re your dearest frie-“  
“Bis, stop being so salty.”  
“Mmph!”

I walk over to the table as Reina lets go of the doggy’s mouth-

“I’m not a- mmph!”

-and lean against the chair nearest to me, facing the two demons before me. The ever proper ojou-sama, Kurotsuno pauses to glance up and narrow her eyes, her cup still hovering over the saucer as she stares straight into my soul. Then she turns to face my crush who sweeps her messy grey fringe to the side with those hands that are attached to those very strong arms of hers that are able to crush my skull within my helmet that I hope will hold me tight in an embrace one fine day should it ever come, if it ever comes.

For some reason, Kurotsun narrows her eyes at me at that.

“Does she know we can still hear her?”

Hanten shrugs, looking very nonchalant about that statement which I definitely do not have any idea of what it means.

“Eh, probably. But, s’not like she’s doin’ any harm anyways, so let’s just let her continue doing her thing.”

Kurotsuno looks back at me briefly, an obvious grimacing frown forming on her face before she looks away.

“She’s gone nuts.”  
“Like I said, it’s not like she’s doing any harm to us. Besides, we’ve seen this coming for a long time. Bet you losing that helmet of hers made her go into shock and that’s why she’s like that. That’s the only reason why I’m giving her a free pass at the moment. Cause this amuses me.”  
“So it wasn’t you who...”

I turn away from their conversation for a while, trying to think to myself.

“Well clearly you’re thinking too aloud.”  
“Do you want to try to win me or not?”  
“Yeah yeah, I got it. I’ll quit complaining.”  
“Actually, I was going to say stop stalling for time, but I suppose with how stupid you are, it’s only to be expected.”  
“SHUT UP!”

Where oh where could I have placed them? There was the

Something between a sneer and a grin forms on Kurotsun’s face. 

“Well, didn’t you say that you found her act oh so amusing? So you should accompany her, help her find those headphones of hers so she can finally stop.”

Hanten looks scandalised.

“What the- but I got better things to do!”  
“Like what, murdering?”  
“Yes!”  
“Drinking?”  
“Yes!”  
“Being nice to people?”  
“Yes! Yes I- wait what?”

“And I’ll put my chocolate on the table if we add the condition that you don’t kill her.”  
“Not even once?”  
“I’m letting you be nice to her.

She throws her hand up in the air in what I’m sure is a vulgar sign though I can’t quite see it

“Shut up.”  
————————————  
WOODS, 3.40 AM

————————————  
SHOP I WENT TO IN TOWN, 4.10 AM

————————————  
HOME: 5 AM

I sit down on my bed, already having sighed and accepted that I’d never find my head-

...There’s something hard under the blankets.

...?!

How did I even miss this?!

“Wait... so you made me follow you across town, with you monologuing pretty much the whole day, just for us to realise you left it under the covers?”

Uh... yes? I guess? Wait wait WAIT- gahyuk! I-I-Yow ow ow ow stop stop stop!

“You know, now that you’re not narrating, it feels like there’s no context to what I’m doing, which is somewhat strange after hearing your damn banter for the past two hours.”

Eh- AH! Ow ow not there not there not there OUCH!

“Hmm... let’s see... Out of pure irritation, I tear Met apart for wasting my time by pulling her apart from the stomach. This action is further aggravated by how insolent she was, getting me to translate all her speech to- we haven’t even gotten to the part that I break your bones and you pass out? Well that’s a first.”


	24. Two witches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minami accidentally summons Red Sea wadda

“Yay it worked! Now I have two mamas! Papa’s going to be really pleased when I show him you!”

Minami grabbed onto the hand of the new carbon copy of his mother, skipping as he brought her out of his room. Sure, maybe she was wearing different clothes from what his mama usually wore, but people had to change out of their clothes, right?

He squealed with delight as they hopped down the stairs, his second mother still towing behind him, smiling as she followed behind him. Now that he had two moms, that meant he would get twice the amount of love, which meant he would get twice the number of sweets when he asked her! And he was so excited! Usually he had no one to play with since both papa and mama were really busy people, but now, with two mamas, one of them could stay with him and have a break!

Looking at the clock, he frowned a bit, knowing it was a too early for his papa and mama to come back before remembering that his two aunts were coming over for baby sitting duty. “Hey, momma number two!” He stretched and waved his hand in front of her eyes, before jumping up and down as she kneeled next to him. “Mom’s going to be real proud of me when she sees you! And then my two aunts, you know, your two familiars? They’re going to be so surprised to see you! Should I get some of mummy’s clothes for you? Then you could pretend to be my mom and surprise them!”

Before the copy sea witch could answer, there was some knocking on the door along with some heated conversation right on schedule as he had expected, and he ran off to open the door.

“So as I was saying, roast fowl should be ban- oh hi Minami!” The seagull lady smiled at him, and he gave her a hug which she reciprocated. 

As soon as he released her, he tugged on to her shirt, trying to pull her in to the living room. “Look look! I made another momma!” He excitedly grabbed onto her wrist, earning a chuckle from her.

“Haha, Minami, what didja make your mama out of this time, seawee-“ Aunt Memoca stopped mid sentence as she looked up at the Red Sea witch who was waving to her.

Smile still frozen on her face, she slammed the door shut before swinging it open, pulling Minami out as well, and then slammed the door shut again.

“Dolphi, I need you to slap me really hard, because I dreamt that the Red Sea is back and they already corrupted Wada and we’re in so much trouble-”

Without any hesitation, Dolphi swung her hand and whacked her fellow familiar’s head hard, earning a loud yowl from her. For one, this was no time to joke about such things in front of a child. Secondly, while she did love Memoca a lot, the seagull still had to wake up her idea and realise that the threat had long since passed. Thirdly, Wada was with Samekichi on some peace treaty mission in the Rabbit Kingdom, so she couldn’t be here.

“...don’t say such things in front of little Minami.” She walked past her and opened the door slowly, and as she had expected, no one was around. “See? No one’s here-“

“Boo!” A witch in red jumped out from behind the door, giggling as she saw that Dolphi jumped and screamed. “Sorry sorry, it’s just been a long time since I last saw you two. At least, like this.”

Memoca could only scream as she remained in a dogpile, with Dolphi lying on her. “AAAAAAHHHHH! The Red Sea! It’s back! It corrupted Wada already! We’re doomed!”

“Hey, that’s not very nice!” The little boy grabbed onto the Red Sea Witch’s hand, as if trying to reassure her that she was wanted. “That’s mama... well, mama number two! Isn’t she pretty?”

Pretty was not the word the two familiars were scrambling for as they tried to grasp onto reality. The two familiars, no matter how they wanted to deny it, could feel their contracts binding them to the impossible witch in front of them. Which meant that whoever was in front of them was indeed Wadanohara.

In other words, in someway or another, Minami had somehow thwarted reality enough to bring a psycho version of Wadanohara. Or at least, that’s what they were concluding. 

And the worse part, was that Red Sea Wada knew that as well and seemed to have no intent on leaving. She grinned, and placed a finger on her lips to remind them to keep their mouths shut.

“A-ah... yes, that’s, that’s right Min. Correct...” She raised her wing to stop Dolphi from charging and tackling the Red Sea intruder, because who knew what that witch was capable of doing. “Min, why don’t we just go for a walk...” Memoca struggled to find an activity that would lead him away from the threat he was holding hands with. 

The copy answered her thoughts first. “How about we go to the sea of stars? It’s been a while since I’ve been there.”

“Ah, well, I’m sure you are busy...”  
“Yay! I like the sea of stars! It has loads of starfish!”

...Trust the kid to ruin her escape plan. Memoca nodded fervently, and grabbed onto Dolphi’s shoulder. “Sure thing! But, ah, your aunt Dolphi here, she has something important to do!”

“...I do?”

“Yes. You have a very very important,” she stressed, “very important thing to do in the Totsutsa Kingdom!”

Catching on to what her fellow familiar meant, she nodded with much fervour. “Ah, right. Very important. I’ll just... go.”

The Red Sea witch watched as Dolphi sprinted off before giving an exaggerated sigh. “That’s a shame. I 

“It’s refreshing.”

“It brings back good memories, when the sea was blue, but I love my new home now.”

“The colour red does bring me much joy, heehee!”

“Oh no, I rarely see the two of you.”

“Huh? Why’s that? I thought we were your familiars?”

“Mmm... It used to be that you kept trying to accompany Dolphi before she turned. Sometimes you went back to the old you, with those yellow eyes of yours, especially when you left the Red Sea to go flying , but then either you were filled with so much anger that you went right back.”

“Did you know? Sal told me. Fukami turned first, and he tried to kill Dolphi off, but you turned to block him off in a... fit of anger.” “Then you made sure to keep Dolphi hidden away, and eventually she turned, unable to stop the song of the Red Sea from getting into her head.”

“The Red Sea has a song?”

“All seas have a song. That’s how you know which one is your home!”

“And... which is your favourite one? The Blue, or the Red?”

“...the Blue has always been my favourite. It’s soft and gentle, and it’s nostalgic.”

“It’s good to see you again, blue sea Memoca.”


	25. Sparring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanten and Kurotsuno spar against each other

“Missed me.”  
“Missed me again.”  
“At this point I think you’re missing me on purpose. Wonder why.”

Kurotsuno growled before summoning another knife and hurling it towards her back where the other’s voice came from. A thud resounded as the knife embedded itself into a tree, and she turned around only to see Hanten poke the weapon before looking at her smugly.

“Missed me yet again. Though, a lot better than last week.”

The creases on her face became more pronounced as she frowned, the memory of failure at the previous attempt coming back to mind where she didn’t even manage to get the blade close to the other demon. She didn’t like how her mocking tone seemed to be teasing her, as if she thought it was all just a game, and rushed forward with a trident to try again.

One side step, and she ended up dashing past her target and crashed into the bush behind her.

“Ya know, Kuro, fighting’s not all about running in and trying to stab someone. That’s only if you’re desperate, or really just want to do it for fun. You need to use your brains.”

She snorted, pushing herself up from the bushes. What an ironic statement, coming from her who ran into fights more often than she herself would have liked. Brushing off the branches, she stiffened as she felt a hand pat her side.

“You’re too tense. Loosen up.”

Kurotsuno swung her elbow at her, only to hit nothing but air. Standing back up straight, she looked around to see no trace of the other until the leaves on top of a tree rustled, revealing Hanten to be leaning against the trunk casually before bringing up a hand to her face.

“Geez, Kuro. You can’t even land a hit on me with your weapons. And from a long range too! That’s like a knife thrower just missing all the targets. Embarrassing.”

A knife flew, whistling in the air before she knew it. Then the sound abruptly stopped as it was caught by the hilt and tossed aside like it wasn’t an actual threat.

That only served to piss her off even more, and she clenched her teeth as she glared. “I told you to get on with the sparring. Like, actual fighting. You’re just dodging and criticising me.”

All she got was a shrug.

“You were the one to ask me to be your sparring buddy. You didn’t say that there were any limitation on how I could choose to spar.”

“Wasn’t it supposedly no magic? Isn’t what you’re doing magic?”

“The limitation was for you, dummy. The reasoning behind it was so that I wouldn’t have to deal with you dishing out spell after spell like there’s no tomorrow. That, and I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of them.”

“And I’m not dealing with your magic?”

Hanten waved around the clearing. “You don’t see me setting the place on fire.”

She growled, summoning her trident. A whole hour of just purely dodging, and it was making her a little more than just tired. Couldn’t she see, that she just wanted to prove...

Prove that...

Kurotsuno shook her head.

“Just be serious for once, will you?! You never take anything seriously, that’s why-“

She couldn’t bring herself to finish that sentence, but its meaning was clear, and the other demon’s face softened.

“Fine. You want me to get serious? Then I will. Gonna give you a three second head start.”  
“A three second head start-“

A punch collided into her stomach, but the grip on her shoulder held her in place throughout the impact, and she crumpled to the ground, shuddering and wincing pathetically as her trident fell out of her grip.

Hanten stood in front of her, shaking her fist as she shrugged. “Went too far?”

“Nope.”

And for the first time

So she wanted to play like that, huh? At least she could finally get some hits in.

The trident charged forward, and Hanten stepped back, avoiding every single attack before 

She just had to stop her from touching the ground, and she wouldn’t be able to escape!

The trident slammed into the ground, and the glyphs covered the ground, black hands reaching up from the marks towards their target.

Hanten jumped into the air, the land-based spell missing her as she kept herself airborne.

“Hey that’s cheating!”  
“You said I was predictable. So, I’m being unpredictable by doing that.”

She grinned as the other rolled her eyes. “Haha, very funny Kurotsuno. That’s like cutting off my movement! It’s like avoiding lava on the ground.”

“Too bad you didn’t set it on fire first then.”

She would eventually prove to herself anyway.


	26. Smile

Kurotsuno had an expectation for her mornings. A cup of tea. Chocolate biscuits. Peace and quiet as she walked down the stairs, preferably while the others were doing their own thing.

“IT STILL LOOKS SO CONDESCENDING WHAT EVEN-?!”

Not shouting. It kept ringing in her ears, and she grumbled as she brought her hands to her ears. No longer could she hear her own footsteps, and she only let go of her ears when she had to take a seat.

In front of her were both Hanten and Met, both on the sofa, the latter poking the former’s face with chopsticks.

That was how she knew that it was going to be a shitty day.

“What are you doing?”

Met looked behind to face her before shifting herself to show Hanten’s poker face. “I’m working on her smile. See?” Using the thicker ends of the chopsticks, she poked Hanten’s cheeks, succeeding in making the other look like she was giving a small smile.

A very, very contemptuous and arrogant grin, to be rather specific.

“Is not working though. No matter how I do it, it just looks- looks really condescending! I don’t get it!”

Hanten’s face formed a grin on its own, her eyes narrowed with amusement. 

“That’s because I am being condescending. Who wouldn’t be, with you in front of them?”  
“Wha-huh?!”

Kurotsuno sighed as a muffled screech filled the room once the other demon shoved a cushion into Met’s face. Talk about a normal day and you won’t get one. Sheesh.

“I’m surprised that you’re being so passive about this.”

All she got was a shrug.

“I’m just feeling generous.”  
“Generous. Right.”  
“I can be plenty generous if I’m in a really good mood. You of all people should know that.”

She rolled her eyes at that.

“Sure. What’s put you in such a good mood?”  
“Can’t I just be happy on my own?”  
“Really?”

Hanten gave a snort before releasing the struggling ghost, a loud wheeze following after.

“Chikemuri got himself into the hospital again.”  
“Because of you?”

Hanten looked flabbergasted, as if she had just been accused of a murder she hadn’t committed. The grin on her face gave her away, however.

“All I did was give him meat! He’s a growing boy, he needs his proteins.”  
“And I assume that it was human meat which he is allergic to and you force fed him.”  
“Hmph. I didn’t force feed him. He ate it on his own accord.”  
“...you mixed it into his food then?”  
“Bingo. He thought it was chicken. Funny he would eat it, cause that’s cannibalism.”

A loud gasp for air interrupted that conversation.

“Do all your smiles look like that?”

“Ye-“

“Actually, she has a pretty nice smile if she puts her mind to it.”

The two girls on the sofa paused whatever they were doing to look over

She didn’t feel safe with that bet in place.

“You idiots can do whatever you like, just don’t bother me in my room.”  
———————  
The night was all quiet. The wind softly blew through the window, only to be interrupted briefly by two figures entering the room which sheltered a sleeping girl. 

Not a single footstep sounded as the two broke in, one floating in the air and the other lifting her foot off the ground while her wings flapped, keeping any noise they might have made to a minimum.

A small smile had formed on the oblivious demon, one arm on her blanket. Clearly, she was blissfully having a good nights rest, no matter what she was dreaming about.

And the expression on her face was such a gentle, genuinely happy smile that one would never see from the conscious person.

The taller intruder snickered.

“You owe me.”  
“Damn it.”

The girl in question simply stirred in her sleep, her face still having that rare smile, before turning away from both of them.

Then the silence was broken by a whispered question.

“Isn’t it a bit creepy that we’re in Kurotsun’s room? Watching her sleep?”  
“Met?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Shut up.”


	27. Sober

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanten drinks

Hanten hated being entirely sober.

Well, hate is a strong word. More like, she disliked it greatly. It gave her mind nothing to work on, and all sorts of thoughts would come into her mind. At least with some of the booze in her veins, she didn’t have to think so much, and not thinking meant that she could pass off anything that she did within that time frame as being drunk.  ~~ No responsibilities, no consequences. ~~ She could just focus on doing what she liked as and when she liked.

~~ Besides, it wasn’t like she was bottling anything up. ~~

But alas, the bar was closed due to an unforeseen fight  thanks old man and the alcohol in the fridge was all gone like it had never existed in the first place. After hunting all over the place, she gave up, not wanting to waste her time just walking to town.

So she had resigned herself to a night on the roof.

It was nice, sitting on the roof. The roof was large, and high up from the ground. The huge disc in the sky seemed to be dim, almost like it was complementing the dark sky. The wind wasn’t even howling, and there wasn’t a chance of a storm. Everything around her was quiet and peaceful, and she looked up into the skies above.

~~ It used to be just her. Things were so much simpler then. The cliff, the stars in the sky, what Olivia liked, she liked. And the moon in the sky was so much more luminous in her memories, like a bright beacon of hope. ~~

How things had changed.

She liked flying, that had never changed. The feeling of the wind on her face gave her a thrill.  ~~ She used to wonder if the other girl did too. And now, she was pretty certain she did.  ~~ Perhaps she could never fly as high as she might have wanted to, but that didn’t stop her. Always fly high enough

“Didn’t think you’d come up here today.”

But of course, things had to change.

Didn’t it always?

Everything that she had once was all gone.

“Do you regret anything?”

After all, what was there to regret? She had left the person that she was once behind. She was someone, maybe even something entirely new. The past didn’t affect her, not when she had her entire future to look forward to.

~~ All she had to do was let go of what she once had but it was so difficult- ~~

“No, I don’t.”


	28. Birthdays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kemuri’s birthdays

On his first birthday, he got stabbed with a butter knife.

Or so that was what he heard, which explained the small scar near his chest. It had already more or less healed, and it was only if you squinted would you be able to make out the faint outline.

——————————

——————————

——————————

——————————  
...she was going to miss his birthday for the third year.

Even though he was relieved that she wasn’t around (maybe that was her present to him, to give him a sense of peace), he couldn’t help but wonder where was she at. Despite everything she had done to him, he supposed he didn’t quite hate her, and sighed as he got out of his room, walking down the stairs.

Then he lost his footing and fell, pushing against some demon

“Watch it!” He instantly cowered as the stranger got up and growled, before looking at her with a face of confusion. She... seemed familiar somewhat, and he nearly wanted to ask if they had met before when she scoffed, almost as if she was disgusted that it was him. “Oh. It’s just you.”

It’s just... him? “Have-have we met before? You look very... very familiar...” Chikemuri tilted his head, trying to figure out what was going on. He definitely didn’t know anyone who fit her description entirely.

The stranger rolled her eyes, before looking away. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not coming back for dinner again, by the way. Tell that to them, won’t you?” 

“Wait! Who are you?” He asked, running towards her, and he almost lost her in the crowd before she stopped and turned back to face him. There was an exasperated face before she grinned, showing her fangs clearly to him while he pushed, wanting to know who this mysterious person was.

“That reminds me. Happy birthday, Kemuri.”

Then she faded back into the crowd, leaving his efforts to find her in vain.  
—————————


	29. Childhood memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why Kuro hates Sullivan
> 
> This was before chapter 7 of obsolete dream

“Right, so talk.”

Kurotsuno rolled her eyes at the pure crudeness of the other girl’s request. Of course she would insist that they have this conversation. The whole set up was even perfect: get her a little drunk, make sure she couldn’t think straight, and then push for the information. How did she not notice? 

And they were all alone. Ah shit. She really didn’t feel like going through this now.

But before she could even open her mouth to protest, Hanten grabbed her tie and tugged on it.

“Nope. Don’t even think about getting out of this. You had years to think over this, now start talking.”

So she took a deep breath, trying to see how she could best illustrate what she remembered.  
————————  
She was four.

That was a point in her life when she was ill, deathly sick even, she believed. The memories of that time were hazy, almost as if it was covered in thick fog, but whether the reason was because she was sick and young then or because the memory had been suppressed, she had no idea. Nevertheless, she remembered the shouting and the screaming, mostly incoherent to her in her feverish daze. 

Of course, it wasn’t like the shouting had just started, however. It had been happening for a few months before, way before she was even sick. They would shout about grown up things that she didn’t understand but knew it was probably very important, whatever a ‘di-force’ and a ‘chit-ting’ was, for both of them to be so angry.

But no matter what, they always smiled whenever she went over to them. Pretended that everything was alright, even though the sweat and strained smiles on their faces suggested otherwise, and refused to tell her about the grown up things they’d screamed at each other for in front of her, only engaging in it when they’d thought she had gone to bed.

At least, until that day, when she was turning about in her bed under the blanket that felt burning hot from her own fever, she could hear them shout outside her room. Even with her headache pounding through her skull, she could see papa standing there. Mama must have been standing behind the wall, she reasoned, or else he wouldn’t be standing there doing nothing.

Then she saw him turn to glance at her and quickly closed her eyes, wanting to know more about the adult things that they were talking about. She couldn’t do that if he was just going to smile and pretend everything was alright after all, right?

Suddenly, there was a loud slam, making young Olivia jump and grip onto the blanket even tighter. Her eyes were still closed, but she could faintly make out a soft squelching sound before footsteps went down the stairs. She pulled the blanket over her head, a feeling of fear suddenly overwhelming her, though for what reason she had no idea of. A few minutes later, she felt a hand touch the top of her blanket and gently shake her.

“Olivia? Are you awake?”

Wanting to pretend that she had been asleep the whole time, she didn’t budge for a while before pulling the blanket off her head. The warning bells in her feverish head were going off, giving her a major headache as she sat up to face papa who was sitting at the edge of her bed. He was just holding a bowl, yet, she still felt rather scared of him for no reason, and pushed it aside as she watched him lift the spoon. 

There was a big lump on the spoon, that she noticed. What was it, soup? A really, really red soup, though. And it smelt weird too.

Papa seemed to notice and smiled at her before pushing the spoon towards her mouth. “Here, I got some medicine for you. It’ll make you feel much better tomorrow, I promise.”

She should have figured out what it was by then, but she was much too young to understand the true implication of the whole event back then.

So she stared at it, still not quite trusting of it. Surely it wasn’t something disgusting, like a red version of green peppers, right? And it was papa, who wouldn’t do anything to her.

So she begrudgingly opening her mouth, allowing him to push the spoon and its contents in. It felt weird, like it was some kind of meat, but much more chewy. Maybe it was a stew? What kind of stew was it? 

She allowed herself to question what kind of meat stew it was for it to be medicine as papa continued to feed her, and before she knew it, he was tucking her into bed, softly whispering before giving her a kiss on the forehead as she giggled, the stew medicine thing making her feel much better already.

“Papa will make all the pain go away, I promise.”

It made her sick to the stomach as she remembered how the blood had dripped from the spoon as he fed her the ‘medicine’.  
———————  
“Oh, that’s fu-“

“Shut it. So I ate my mom. Not my fault.” Kurotsuno growled a bit before calming down. There was no use getting mad at the person when he wasn’t there. “Besides, it was a long time ago.”

Hanten only raised a brow before opening another can of beer and pouring it out for both of them. 

“So it isn’t. Go on.”  
———————  
She was five. 

Now, it was just the two of them. The old house had been sold off, and their new house was somewhere really dark and dreary. 

Though, that was kind of to be expected of a place called Pitch Black World. Would be kind of ironic if the place was all sunshine and rainbows for shits and giggles.

It was a nice big house, and she loved running around the house. It was a nice big space, and there was lots of empty dusty rooms to explore for her. It was a much too big house for the two of them after mama had left, as papa had said. And she could do almost anything in the house which only came with one rule:

She could never leave the house.

The door was to be locked at all times. The windows were all bolted, and the curtains in the room that she was in were to be drawn. He claimed it was for her protection, but now, she wondered if it was because he wanted her to never find out what became of her mother.

Now that she looked back, she should have seen that the big house was but a prison. Certainly one that was well furnished and meant to keep out intruders, but still a prison. 

But young Olivia didn’t realise or care about that. She was much too eager to fill the gap that was left by her mother leaving to care that she was essentially stuck in a lie, a whole bunch of lies. She tried to be on her best behaviour, tried to please him as much as she could, like a dog trying its hardest to get a treat from its master. After all, there was no one else for her except him and herself.

And what had he done? He left her alone, a five year old child, alone at home, sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks. Sure, it was undeniable that he came home to spend time with her, and she wouldn’t be so cruel to lie and say they weren’t close in those times, but it was always work first, daughter second. How many times had she been pushed aside for something else, because that coward refused to put his foot down on those rare off days? If he had made some semblance of an effort trying to keep the family that he himself had destroyed, perhaps he would still be redeemable in her eyes. Instead, he came home reeking of the stench that she had only recently become accustomed to thanks to a certain someone that was sitting next to her and was completely incoherent during those times.  
———————  
“I’m right here you know.”  
“Now you know why I detested these things originally.”  
“And you never bothered to tell me?”  
“It’s all in the past. Besides, what would that have accomplished? It’s not like you would stop drinking if I just told you.”

“Oh, I think you’d be surprised at the things I would have done for ya back then.” She picked up her mug, closing her eyes to savour the taste of the drink before plopping it back down. “But that’s not the point. So, go on.”  
———————  
That was how it was for two years. Just her, trying to hold their family together in spite of his schedule and decisions.

It was so difficult, managing to stay sane while in the confines of her house, unable to get out. 

Then sanity came in the form of a demon who had crawled through the chimney. Her first friend ever since he had trapped her.

She didn’t know if it was symbolic that she was to forget the name of her first friend here and would only retain the vague memories of her.  
———————  
“You had a friend here? Who was it?”

Kurotsuno huffed, her eyes flitting to the side as she tried to remember. “...Don’t know. She had red eyes-“

“A lot of demons have red eyes. Some angels too.”  
“And white hair. I don’t remember her name, but that’s all past. Happy now?”

Hanten paused to consider her, her face having a rather passive look before looking away. “Happy. How coincidental, in fact, but that’s none of my business. Continue.”

“...” She looked down at that. “...I don’t want to continue.”

“Oh?” Though she couldn’t see how the other looked, she could tell that she was curious. “Why not?”

“You already know all of this.” She paused for a bit, turning to glance at the other girl. “You already know all of this. So why are you asking me?”

“I don’t know about-“

Kurotsuno cut her off. “Let me rephrase that. You know about these from other places for sure, and you’ve been there for a majority of my life after meeting me. So why would you ask the obvious.”

Hanten closed her eyes, looking rather calm and nonchalant about the whole thing. 

“Was just wondering why you’re so adamant about not forgiving him.”

That statement pissed her off more than she already was, and before either of them knew it, she had grabbed the other demon by the collar and pulled her forward. One of her claws was just inches from stabbing an eye for being so blind to the situation.

“Lies to me, traps me against my damn will-“

“Calm down-“

“-acts like nothing even happened-“

“Oi! Kurotsuno?”

“-and then he has the nerve to play the victim card all these years!”

“Kuro-“

She punched Hanten in the gut, forcing a gasp out of her. She’d have to keep in mind to apologise later, but for now, it felt good to let all the boiling anger out on someone. “And you want me to take the high road and just-just forgive him?” 

“I never said-“

She ignored the other girl’s attempt at explaining herself, turning back to her drink as she muttered to herself. “I’m just wasting my breath on you. What do you even understand, anyway. Yours is a complete family structure, and mine’s...”

“I’m not asking you to forgive him.”

“Of course I wouldn’t understand how it feels to lose something important to me like a mom.” It was clear that Hanten was resisting the urge to roll her eyes from how annoyed she looked. “My mom’s alive, obviously. My old man’s not an idiot like yours. But it’s not going to do either of us good if we were to keep comparing my family to yours.”

“

Sanity, she believed, arrived in the form of a curious demon holding a knife who wanted to explore the supposedly big empty house.

It had been Christmas, and she had been waiting for the legendary Santa to make his way down the chimney, much to papa’s amusement as he agreed to let her watch the chimney for the night before he himself went to bed, mumbling about how the chimney was much to narrow for anyone to fit in in the first place.

Then again, in his defence, he couldn’t possibly have predicted that that particular day, a young child would be going down the chimney to enter their house.

It had been a great surprise and lesson for her that apparently dustpans didn’t make great kidnapping weapons, and that the girl in the chimney, even though she had white hair once she got the soot off her head, was not Santa.

Weird white haired girl rubbed her head at the spot where she had whacked her. “...so this isn’t an empty house.”

Olivia shook her head, wondering if that was a question directed at her. Chimney demon swore, before taking a good look at her and stashing her knife away.

“You’re weird.”

She made a brief indignant sound at that before the other girl shook her head to establish that that wasn’t quite what she meant.

“You’re... not one of us, I mean. Don’t look like a ghost either. That’s interesting. What are you?”

She shrugged at that. Even she didn’t quite know the answer then. Did it matter what she was? She was Olivia.

Demon girl was seemed all the more interested at that. With an air of nonchalance, she stuck out her still sooty hand towards her, giving a name that she had long forgotten.

She stared at the outstretched hand, wondering if she ought to take it. Technically, papa never said she couldn’t make friends with demons that went down the chimney and didn’t knock on the door.

So, with much rigour, she took the other girl’s hand and shook it hard, not realising that her life had been spared only because the other was much too fascinated with her to stab her.

“Olivia.”

That day was the day that both girls got a secret friend.

And for once, the house didn’t seem so empty anymore.

At least for three years, anyway.  
——————————  
She once wondered if her mom would still be alive if she had intervened more. Now that she had reflected on it, though, it seemed that the only reason their marriage had been surviving up till then was due to both being very reluctant to leave their dying child alone. One girl that was down with an unconventional illness.

Maybe if she had died back then, mom would still be alive.  
—————  
She had loved him. She had adored the dad that she had created in her naive little mind with what limited knowledge she knew about him. She reasoned with herself that he was doing it for the both of them, 

And now she wondered if he had been doing it for himself from the start.

There were so many reasons that she could hate him for.


	30. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes I wonder what my younger self was thinking
> 
> This is one such time 
> 
> Think that Hanten is betraying Kuro but Kuro placed part of her soul in Hanten herself, so unless Hanten dies she ain’t dying but I’m not sure

Most supernatural creatures were difficult to kill.

Especially demons and angels.

If one were to ask why they were so hard to kill, why they were able to sustain so many massive injuries or unfortunate incidents, only the dimmest would tell the truth of their apparent immortality.

Not that it was huge secret or anything to either groups, of course.

It was a simple answer after all: two hearts, one physical, and the other metaphysical.

A trait that most mortals didn’t have.

The physical one remained the easiest to understand. Just the one in any one’s body. However, destroying it in any method wasn’t sufficient to kill them, which explained how they could take in attack after attack without dying. That wasn’t to say that it was impossible to completely kill them by only attacking the physical heart, but rather, it was extremely difficult, and most of the time took decades or centuries to wear down that particular aspect in the first place, and perhaps only in major wars that seemed to have no end to them.

Of course, that was assuming that their second heart wasn’t one and the same as the first.

While the secondary heart wasn’t a real heart, and was only called that in name out of lack of understanding, it existed, and was difficult to track down as a result of a lack of physical state and the multiple forms it could take. 

If anything, it was more of a soul than a heart, come to think of it. 

For example, it wasn’t uncommon for couples to make the other spouse carry their souls, displaying a full trust in their partner to take care of each other. That way, even in natural death, they would still have a part of each other to hold onto. There was of course some of it within families, such as uncles and their nieces forming a mutual bond to survive, though that was extremely rare.

Alternatively, one could keep their own heart to themselves, ensuring that they could ensure their own safety, though few chose that path.

And then there were those who kept theirs in objects of sentimental value. Sometimes it was unintentional, usually only a result of a strong memory. Most of the time it wasn’t. The items would vary, perhaps an old trophy, a wedding ring,

Or a locket.

Whatever the item was, it didn’t matter. The only common trait between all such items were that they had a sort of glow, soft and just barely brightening its surroundings, that could only be seen by the owner and were indestructible by unintentional means. Stepping on an item acting as a secondary heart by accident wouldn’t result in the breakage of the item.

An intentional act to destroy it would, however, along with the soul attached to it.

That resulted in most people hiding never disclosed the location of their achilles’ heel as a result, not wanting to be held hostage as a result. It was already dangerous by itself to potentially have your heart in the hands someone you didn’t trust. 

It was even more dangerous for it to be in the hands of someone you trusted.

So, to say that Kurotsuno was shocked when Hanten held out a familiar, softly glowing locket in front of her face was a massive understatement.

“I didn’t. The look on your face only confirmed it for me though.”

“You’re only going to get in the way of my plans.”

And the evildoer walked away, giving a last glance at the mutilated corpse that stayed stationary against the tree.

That should have been the end of it.

But then again...

There was never any hard and fast rule that the secondary heart could only exist in one item or person.

Her body slowly pieced itself together, despite the multiple wounds on her body. Dried blood- her own blood- littered all over the forest floor was the first thing she saw when she regained her sight. Then the ringing in her ears, and finally the feeling of sensation in her body came back before Kurotsuno got up, careful not to exacerbate any injuries that she wasn’t aware of that hadn’t healed, and patted herself to check that she was fully healed.

The memory of a dimly glowing demon walking away, sword stained with her blood came back to her. She supposed that it was a lucky thing that she never mentioned that particular fact to the other girl, and a grin formed across Kurotsuno’s face. At a stalemate, weren’t they?

A brief look of insanity passed through her face.

“Pity. Too bad you can’t kill me either.”


	31. Hanten and Met

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am officially the most confusing person I know

“Eh, I heard you wrong, right?” Something twisted in the demon’s face, a look she hadn’t seen before. “You want to prove that you’re worthy of my love?”

It was a grin, yet it didn’t have the same usual playfulness behind it. This was a foreign face, one that mocked her weakness, one that made Met a bit fearful.

She loved it.

She loved that feeling of fear that she didn’t even notice the sudden punch that Hanten threw at her helmet, cracking the visor completely, the shards barely missing her face before the helmet got ripped off her head. It only served to remind her of what little power she had as a ghost against a full pledged demon. Though she was technically immortal, she had comparatively much lesser strength and magic then a demon did, and healed slower than one.

And now, she thought, with the lack of a helmet, a safety device she might add, the sudden clarity of Hanten’s face that she had was stunning. And the other fact that she was awfully close to what anyone normal would call danger.

She wasn’t anyone normal though. No, she was a ghostly DJ, who was 155 centimetres tall.

Not that most of it mattered except that last bit at the moment, especially since her home slice stood at a height of 165 centimetres which basically meant she was towering over her. Her head throbbed in pain, and she realized she hadn’t even noticed that she had been slammed against the wall, lifted above the ground with her neck-

And she was choking her, staring her down at eye level.

Her body had already reacted to it before her notice, clawing at the other girl’s hand in a desperate attempt to free her throat, which only served to have Hanten’s grip tighten even further. She could tell that she had limited time, ironic since she was a ghost, she was already dead, by how quickly her hands turned white. The only real damage that she had done was a few scratch marks on her hand.

Met contemplated getting her pipe to help her get out of her grasp. Though Hanten had done this before to her, she hadn’t really looked as serious as she did now, with the sadistic grin on her face that was slowly turning into a frown.

Then she was dropped onto the floor like how a child dropped a toy that they didn’t want to play with anymore, only a huff causing the ghost to look up from her crumpled state on the ground as she wheezed for air.

There was a disappointed look in Hanten’s face, as if her reaction wasn’t expected before she turned away. “You’re not what I’m looking for. You don’t even fight back. And to think that you were worthy of me? Dream on.”

Met felt herself at a loss of words, a feeling of anger building up in her. She... expected her to fight back? Even though she was practically powerless in that scenario? Then that would be what she got. She would prove herself now that she knew what she had to do.

She got up shakily, her eyesight still seeing double as she summoned her pipe, and swung it at the demon.

She hadn’t meant for it to hit her at the skull. She had thought the other would move, but instead, she stayed it out perfectly as the pipe swung full force, enough to cause a human’s brain to be bashed out.

This hit caused the demon to lie flat on the ground, head bleeding. The ghost felt a sudden sense of dread, because while she was a technical immortal, demons were not, even if they hardly admitted it.

And now, oh god, she thought, she had effectively killed her crush, which was just fantastic for her, and Kurotsuno would forever blame her for the loss of a friend.

At least, that’s what she thought before she heard the laughter from the now shaking body as Hanten sat up.


	32. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight between Shikabone and Hanten

For the first time in his life, Shikabone was scared.

Well, that was an understatement. He was terrified of the impossibility standing before him.

She smiled at him, before her now inky black hands gripped onto his scythe’s hilt. They hadn’t been moments ago, and he wondered if only he hadn’t 

—————————  
Draft 1  
Shikabone grunted as the young girl launched herself, managing to aim a kick towards his neck. She was strong, he would give her that. Above average from the rest of her kind. 

But it was clearly a one sided battle, he thought, sending the hilt of his scythe into her chest and caused her to wheeze as he forced her back.

It was an unspoken law that no one was to attack the death gods. To do so was a suicidal move, and while there was no official punishment for doing so, neither was there an official rule for the shinigami to show mercy towards their aggressor.

Every demon was aware of it, he was sure. No one would dare to cross death, much less attack one that could take their life in mere seconds.

And yet here Hanten was, dashing over to him in an attempt to attack him, clearly breaking the rules. 

No physical attack could affect him. He was made out of bones, and a skeleton could not bleed unlike those with flesh and life. He was a literal epitome of death itself. And death did not fall to mere mortal reasons.

Even with all her strength, he could tell that she wasn’t going to beat him. She had been focusing on using purely brute strength and force, attempting to land blow after blow. The flames burned orange in her hands and only succeeded in burning some of his cloak off.

Not that any of them would work. Physical blows could only work on flesh, when there was something to grasp. Fire could only burn something that was flammable.

And Shikabone could see that even she knew it. Her face showed that she wasn’t even attacking him out of glee, as he would have expected.

So why, why hadn’t she ceased with this foolish fighting? 

Then he noticed how her hands stopped any flames from reaching the hilt of his scythe. 

Almost as if she was trying to keep his weapon in good condition.

Was she trying to take his scythe?

He frowned as he changed his tactics, using only the hilt to protect him. His attacker growled and summoned a few knives in place of the fire she had previously been using. So he was right.

Preposterous.

What was she even trying to do with it? He didn’t understand her at all. She had little motive for attacking him, much less if she knew what a taboo it was to even attempt to take their scythe. So why, he wondered as the blades that she threw whizzed through his body like it was nothing, why was she doing this? She could have lived her life without even coming into contact with him a second time.

Unless... she was trying to kill someone that was hard to kill?

“Enough!” He threw her back, and before she could even get up, sliced off her hands. If she didn’t have her hands, then there was no worry of her attacking with her knives or fire.

Her cry of pain made him doubt his actions momentarily before he remembered that it was her fault for attacking him first. Their battle had concluded, and it was time for him to leave the distraction behind. He had already wasted more than enough time just trying to fight her.

So before she could grab her hands in any possible way, he stuck the blade into her chest, watching both blade and demon glow as he watched her life ebb away into the blade.

The young demon’s eyes widened, reaching out to the blade to get off of it. Only to fall to her knees and then on the ground once he took the blade that had been supporting her body away, lying flat on the ground along with her amputated hands in a pool of her own blood that was slowly getting bigger.

She wasn’t dead yet, he knew. 

But neither was he going to kill her. It wasn’t her time yet.

And besides, he had other things to do, he remembered as he started to walk away.

Then he heard a muffled voice.

“No... I won’t lose...”

He paused, feeling a deep sense of pity for the young demon. She hadn’t passed out? That was a surprise. He had only left her with a sliver of her life, to stop her from rising again. Certainly, she would heal, but it would take quite a while for her to be back to full power or life again. Perhaps he had been a bit harsh and heavy handed towards her. Hanten was but a child after all, and thus, despite being violent, she was rash, thus making any fight between her and him a one sided one. He contemplated that thought for a while when she continued.

“I can’t lose... I can’t... Olivia... I... promised... so I...”

Maybe she already knew deep down from the start that she would lose, and now that she had, it was the real sense of loss that overwhelmed her. Should he say something, in that case? To console her?

“I can’t lose... I can’t lose...”

Shikabone took a deep breath as he came up with something to say. She had fought honourably, and he felt that he should at least acknowledge that. It wasn’t everyday that a child could just stand up to a death god with a refugee hidden away somewhere.

But before he could, something flashed behind him, illuminating the trees surrounding them. 

“Ha...hahaha....I CAN’T LOSE I CAN’T LOSE AHAHAHAHAHA”

Her tone had changed, and all of a sudden the death god felt a deathly chill, an unnerving sense of fear overwhelming him unlike before from the force behind him.

Something whistled in the wind, flying straight towards him, and he deflected the projectile with his scythe.

A knife dropped to the ground. 

Yet, she was still slumped on the ground, and her hands were far away from them.

Then h-how?!

The moonlight dimmed, and the shadows warped around him, crowding around the amputated hands. An inky substance arose from it, and Shikabone noticed that her hands were no longer there once it moved away. It seemed to be in a hurry as it made a mad dash to the stumps that were her hands, floating right next to them as the nearly dead demon got up.

A calm, knowing grin on her face. 

Her eyes blank.

And just for a moment, he didn’t see the child that he had been fighting with earlier where she stood. What had once told him that she was pretty much harmless was now replaced with an aura of resentment that made every part of him scream in danger. Maybe if he had skin or hair, then he would have felt goosebumps or his hair standing on end.

Her hands floated next to her, the dirty substance that it was covered in dripping to the ground, mixing with the red puddle that she had been lying in just moments before.

And then she struck.

She didn’t even move, but yet he was pushed back by some unknown force. The death god barely managed to avoid the swipes at his face that those black hands of hers did as he pushed them away.

What kind of magic was this, anyway?

Then he noticed that one of his fingers were missing before looking up to see that her hands had attached back to her wrist.

And in one of her hands was a bone.

She had picked off a finger from his hand? When did she- when he was fending himself?

His thoughts were interrupted as he watched Hanten turned the bone in her hands. “That’s all you are, aren’t you? Just a bunch of bones.”

A loud crack followed as she clenched her fist, and what once was his finger was now just a white powder that dissipated into the wind. 

She stepped forward, and he held his scythe in front of him as her smile twisted to something more sinister. “Maybe I should break them all like that. Would you like that?”

And then he felt the force push him back once more, before he wondered why it had come from the back. Shouldn’t it have pushed him forward, if that was the case? 

Shikabone didn’t have much time to contemplate the thought, before she launched at him once again, and his weapon met the blade of her knife as she pushed on again.

But this time, it was like his movement was hindered. Something was interfering with his attacks. And he looked around as he went on the defensive, trying to find something to his advantage. 

She had no shadow. 

And it was then that it dawned on him, and he looked back.

There, under the moonlight, was his shadow, being held back by his attacker’s shadow.

Had she somehow managed to detach her own just to give herself an advantage?! 

“Hmm, hey, I got a better idea.” She slipped out of the radius of his scythe as she stepped back, and he forced himself to look at her before dodging as she clawed at his skull. “Why don’t I break your bones, and then feed them to the dogs? More for everyone!”

“Don’t get cocky, little girl.” He snarled, but even then, he was already starting to doubt himself. Forget the last battle that they just had, where she was just above average. She was now in a completely different league than just moments before. If they fought any further, then he... he would have no choice but to truly kill her. It would be a waste.

So Shikabone decided to try to reason with her instead. “This fight is not over, but if you give up now, I’ll let this transgression go.”

Hanten ceased her attacks before stepping back, and for a moment, it look like she was going to agree with him.

Then she shook her head.

“Little girl? Ah, I haven’t introduced myself, huh? I’m Hanten.”

The sound of metal clashing rang through their battlefield.

It was starting to look bleak for him. He was already exhausted, and their fight now was only extending his suffering. On the other hand, it almost seemed like she had no limit to her energy if the beads of sweat running down her forehead didn’t signal that she was starting to tire as well.

Both of them knew that they had to end it decisively.

So when she jumped back and ran into the cover of the forest, he looked at the direction that she had gone to.

Should he follow?

If he did, she might have laid out a trap for him to fall into.

If he didn’t, she might plan to ambush him later, or even make his job harder. Worse still, she could end up disrupting the balance if she was left unchecked.

In other words, he had no choice but to follow her.

Taking cautious steps, he wandered deeper into the forest. The moonlight around him wavered, and he frowned. With the cover of the trees, and now with what limited light he had now wavering slowly, he knew he had to end this quickly. She couldn’t have gotten very far from here, Shikabone reasoned. If the whole place around him was cleared, he would be able to find her, and there wouldn’t be anything obstructing him. It would be a waste, but it was such when he had no alternatives.

So he raised the scythe up before slamming the hilt down.

Everything around him wilted. The grass turned yellow, its blades crinkled, while the leaves on the trees withered, falling off and leaving the barks bare, surrounded with brown leaves. He heard a few thumps, probably animals falling off the trees as their little hearts stopped beating from the spell, and their still bodies now dropped to the ground.

The demon was nowhere in sight.

The moonlight above him wavered once again.

A smirking demon greeted him, and he jumped back from shock.

“Sure, fire doesn’t hurt you, but even you’d be trapped by fire. You can feel, after all.” She shrugged, raising her hand, and an orange flame lit in it. “And even better, you’re standing in all the tinder that you just created. How considerate.”

Run, his thoughts screamed. Run!

She flicked the flames onto the ground, and everything was ablaze.

“Now, you were saying something about giving up, right? I’ve got a better idea.”

“How about we just see just how real my promises can be?”

And at the moment, Shikabone felt a primal sense of fear of the monster that stood before him as she clenched her fist and cracked the bone that was once his arm into powder.

“Hey, do you think that if I kill you, I’ll get to be a death god? What’s the requirements of being one anyway?”

“Eh, no matter. I don’t need the title to do the same thing anyway.”

“No-no... you can’t take it.” The death god begged, praying that, if there was any bit of mercy in her, she would leave his remains alone. “The scythe... no, no don’t touch it.”

He doubted that as she leered over him, only her smile greeting him as her fringe blocked off her eyes.

“That’s-that’s like playing god!

“I don’t want your life, idiot. I want someone else’s.”

And then she wrenched the scythe out of his cold, skeletal hands.


	33. Your shadow

The shadow that followed behind her wasn’t her own, Kurotsuno knew.

Not that anyone with a brain bigger than a pea couldn’t tell. The shape of her shadow was all wrong. The twisting of the horns, the long tail and even the hair shape was off, nowhere matching hers. Her shadow didn’t resemble her in the slightest, nor did it act like how a shadow should. It would warp and twist, sometimes forming a solidifying black figure in the shape of a hand that would rise from the confines of its linear state to a more physical world.

Sometimes, it was temperamental. It would solidify, only to flick at her ankles before sinking back into its inky confines. Or it would hide, and an illusion of her own shadow would replace it, giving her a sense of normality before the shadow returned.

She had to buy a small mirror and placed it at the table right in front of her just so she could see what it was doing, preventing any pranks from taking place on her. Bad enough her shadow wasn’t hers, if she had to endure being the butt of jokes from a 2D prankster, she was going to find a way to murder her shadow.

And worst of all, Kurotsuno had no idea why this was so.

Mainly because she didn’t remember much. That was a key factor in her confusion as to why she didn’t recognise the figure.

“Hey, Olivia! Oi! Stay awake!”

Her only memories were that of the flashes in her dreams.

“Oh... that’s bad. That’s really bad... but you’re healing a bit though, so that’s good... but I... dunno...”

She could only recognise that there was a figure leaning before her, face unclear, but she could still make out the demon’s rough outline. 

Not enough to make any conclusive evidence, however.

What could she do with a broken memory that failed every time she tried to remember, after all? What could she do with a shadow that wasn’t even hers? The more she recognised them for what they were, the hollow feeling in her heart would sink even further.

And all the shadow lurking behind her would do was either stay and stare or attempt to distract her from those thoughts.

Not exactly helpful.

“Hey, Olivia. I’m... going to go somewhere. I’ll be honest, I don’t think you’re gonna make it on your own.”

Despite the grievous situation that they were in, she snorted, the pain rising up to her chest. “Huh... is that so... so that’s the kind of person you are...”

The demon, her friend she believed, looked baffled before squeezing her hand tightly. “What? No, no no no. I’m not- I’m not abandoning you, not that kind of go somewhere, you dummy.” The white haired demon paused for a bit, before cracking a smile. “In fact, you could say that I’ll be with you after this, forever maybe.”

If only she had the name of this mysterious being...

She grasped her hand tightly, as if making a silent decision, one that was unknown to the dying girl. At last, the demon broke the silence, before reaching out to pull her up from the rubble that surrounded them before holding her tight in her arms.

Her words were whispered into her ear.

“Don’t forget me. Promise?”  
“Promise...”

But Kurotsuno did. And the name that was mumbled barely surfaced in her mind.

The scene shifted, and suddenly, instead of a white haired demon standing before her, a human, cuts lining all over her and blood flowing out of her mouth, was slumped in her arms. And the tears came falling, running down her cheeks. It was an odd feeling. She doubted that she had cried that much before. 

“Then, goodbye.”

Although she couldn’t see Olivia’s face, the slight turn of her face towards her was enough to tell her what she was thinking.

“W-what do you mean...”

Her consciousness faded before she could even hear her own name.

She didn’t even know what that meant.

The only clue she had was of a shadow that trailed behind her constantly, vaguely shaped in the form of the demon in her dreams, leaving a dark imprint on the floor where it was.

Still.

That didn’t mean that that would stop her.  
———————————  
It wasn’t until a few months after that the idea of going to a witch, or at least a spell caster that would help in her search for a mysterious demon she didn’t even remember, came to her mind. 

In hindsight, that should probably have been her first course of action, but of course, it just didn’t occur to her to resort to the most obvious solution.

Chlomaki had welcomed her into her house after she had asked. From there, it was only a matter of getting her to prove that she hadn’t gone mad as she stamped on her regular shadow, occasionally mumbling profanities as it didn’t appear at her beck and call.

And even then, it was only after she laid out a bowl of food on the floor that her shadow warped, revealing an inky hand that broke the illusion it had created as it reached for the snacks and poured it onto the floor. A mouth revealed itself before everything went down into the hole.

For a shadow, it really knew when to act like a vacuum. If only it ate dust. The house would be spotless.

The witch raised a brow as she watched the shadow shift around, its outline showing that it had crossed its arms. “Oooh, that’s a real powerful spell someone placed on you.”

The shadow reached up onto the table, seemingly pawing around to look for more food, like how short people did when they encountered a table and were unwilling to ask for help in reaching the table’s contents. Chlomaki glanced at it before pouring out some jerky from a bowl near the inky hand, watching it grasp onto one before sinking back to its confines.

“Yep, a moving, hungry shadow?” She turned back to Kurotsuno, nodding sagely. “Definitely a powerful spell.”

The crow demon considered her words.

“Oh, I don’t think they meant to lock your memories, if that’s what you think happened.

“But, whoever casted the spell on you must have been very close to you, I’ll give you that.

“So... you’re saying that if I find out who this shadow belongs to and return it to them, I’ll be able to get my memories back?”

“Well, I won’t guarantee it, but more likely than not, the fellow who did it will remember you once you give their shadow back to them.”

“Good. How do I find people without shadows?”

It was then that the witch frowned.

“Shadows... they’re like your soul. That’s why I said that the person who casted the spell on you probably was very close to you. Close enough to even attempt giving up their soul for you.”

“Not many do it, because the cost of it would render them in a coma.”

“I don’t suppose that you could tell me who you are, huh?”

Her shadow shrugged, before pointing at its head and shaking her hands to show that it was clueless.

—————————  
Perhaps it was because she had gotten to engrossed in her daily searching

Strange mercenary that went looking around for something 

She didn’t need to know about her past.

She was happy with the present.

What was the point of pursuing some demon that she didn’t remember anymore, anyway? Maybe she would make a small memorial for her, thank her for her sacrifice

Searching could wait.  
——————————

It was then that Kurotsuno saw it. Or to be more accurate, realised what she wasn’t seeing.

Where the light of the flame reached, the shadow that she herself casted was long, making the figure of her shadow becoming rather elongated. And yet, the caster of the flame had no such phenomenon occurring for her. There was nothing to trail behind her as anyone else would.

“Hey, Hanten?”

“Hmm?”

“Where’s your shadow?”

Hanten stared at her blankly before looking back at where her shadow should have been. “Don’t remember. That’s what I’ve been looking for.”

“Don’t forget me. Promise?”

“Then, goodbye.”

“Shadows... they’re like your soul. That’s why I said that the person who casted the spell on you probably was very close to you. Close enough to even attempt giving up their soul for you.”

“Not many do it, because the cost of it would render them in a coma.”

“I don’t have one. Haven’t had one since I woken up in a land full of flowers.”

“I’ve been looking for mine for a while. That’s why I do mercenary work. Get to travel a bit.”

The puzzle pieces slowly fell into place, 

“Then, goodbye.”  
“W-what do you mean...Hanten?”

That was what Olivia said.

Her friend that had just been hugging her seconds ago suddenly fell limp against her before crashing onto the ground.

And she brought her down with her.


	34. Night in the human world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nightmare trio hanging out in the human world

It wasn’t uncommon for there to be crowds in cities.

Especially around the shopping districts. The streets were especially packed at that hour in the evening, where most of the working human population had just been dismissed from work. 

Most were either with their colleagues or friends, chatting about their day and their mundane lives, or just plainly conversing. Some did so by having a meal. Some did so by having a meal.

And some, some did so while strolling through the streets.

“Ah! It’s been a long time!”

“I thought we were going up to murder.”

“You yourself said that you were going to be damage control for us.”

Somewhere down the road, the tires of a car screeched.

“

The car’s intoxicated driver narrowly avoided the other vehicles on the road, and the crowd on both sides of the road watched as it continued to dangerously manoeuvre around.

With one sharp swerve, the car turned, crashing into the sidewalk. Miraculously, most in its path had managed to jump away from the force of destruction, barely avoiding getting hit.

“Hey guys wait up why are you walking so fa-“

Most.

Then the screams of horror followed from the onlookers.

“Oh my god, someone just died!”  
“Call the police!”  
“It’s a murder!”  
“It’s not a murder you nitwit, it’s an accident!”  
“Call an ambulance!”

Yet, among the crowd that had formed around the wreckage, the victim’s friends were the only ones who facepalmed, one audibly sighing as the other shook her head in severe disappointment.

“Met....”  
—————————

“Yes, you are the victim’s friends. It’s a terrible thing, terrible accident, and-“

“Wait, she’s-she’s breathing? You’re sure about that?”

“Why not you go?”

“I still need to buy my phone. You go.”

“What’s more important: Us or your dumb phone?”

“My phone is my life.”

“Ah, yes, you must be her friend.” Then he looked around. “Is her family not here?”

“Your friend is in stable condition now. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that she’ll ever be able to walk again-“

“Hello!”

There, with a neck brace firmly attached to her neck and bandages covering her entire body, stood Met, smiling like it was Valentines Day and her crush had just asked her out on a date.

One glance from the corner of her eye was enough to tell Hanten that the doctor was gaping. The only thing holding her back from just killing everyone in the room was the security camera that was situated on the top right corner of the room.

Damn it. If only this was her world. Met was so dead when they returned.

Instead, she played civil. “You were saying?”


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tomoe accidentally calls Rika’s cell, and ends up calling the Bloody Radio studio
> 
> Because I hc these two as friends when Rika was alive

“Hello hello! This is the Bloody Radio, in the Underworld broadcasting studio! Who’s callin’?”

The girl at the other end screamed.  
————————  
It had started off rather simply.

All she had been doing was fiddling with her phone. Procrastinating. Yep. That was what she had been doing, before she remembered that she had ought to make a call back home. It was getting late, and as much as Tomoe didn’t want to, she knew that she ought to at least attempt to talk to her parents for a bit before she went to sleep.

Which had led to her going to the list of contacts. She didn’t have many, mainly just her parents’ and the numbers of her friends that she regularly messaged. Scrolling down her phone to locate the number, she yawned as she pressed onto the screen. 

Only to find that she had pressed the one below her mom’s contact. On the call screen read Rika

“Oh. Pressed the wrong one.”

Someone had picked up the phone on the other end.

Hesitantly, she lifted her device to her ear.

“Hello?”

The line went quiet for a bit, and she sighed in relief before moving her thumb towards the red button to end the call. Just an error, as she had expected-

And then a cheerful voice answered the call. 

“Hello hello! This is the Underworld broadcasting studio!

Tomoe froze, thumb still hovering

“Hey wait, this is my personal phone... sorry new phone, who dis?”

“Actually, I’m in an interview now, could you call later? Thanks!”

And just like that, the phone clicked.

She had hung up.

Tomoe released the breath that she hadn’t even realised that she had been holding for the entire duration of the call.


	36. Reincarnation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1: Hanten and Olivia dies in the grey garden world, Kcalb reincarnates then out of guilt, and Chishibuki finds out (because your eldest doesn’t just disappear)
> 
> Part 2: I’m not very sure

“Explain.”

Kcalb had gone through many, many things. He had fought in a war, he had destroyed everything into nothingness, he had let all those who had sided with him die such meaningless deaths, and he had hurt the ones closest to him. Though this could sound like he was being a bit selfish in the blame game, he was willing to shoulder all of that if it was what it took for him to remember never to repeat such a grievous mistake.

That being said, despite being a devil, he felt particularly small compared to petite woman who was glaring at him. She wasn’t from this world, he knew, and he had planned to throw her out for busting through the gates and doors of the castle. Apparently, according to the servants, she had been unreasonable, terrifying, and extremely violent to all who opposed her, leading to everyone steering clear of her as she made her way up.

Or at least, throwing her back to her world had been the plan.

At least until he saw who she had in her hands.

Then everything became clear as he recognised the situation for what it was.

Kcalb remembered the kid in her hands. She wasn’t from this world, but somehow she had been caught up in the war. Which eventually led to him... led to her dying alongside his... own family member, if he could still call her that. 

So he had them reincarnated, despite knowing full well that they didn’t even belong here, if only to assuage his guilt a bit.

And now, the young demon was flailing around, squirming as much as she could, protesting loudly, and no doubt angering her past life’s mother even more than she was showing to him.

It was then that Kcalb realised Hell hath known no fury like a woman scorned.

Especially if it was a mother.

...He wished Etihw was here. They would know what to do.

But they weren’t, so he gulped as he tried to find a way to address the issue.

“Uh... she died, so uh-“  
“How?”

The short question made him jolt a bit from how frank it was. 

“How?”

The glare never faded from her eyes as he repeated her question.

“How did she die. How come I had to find out from an acquaintance of mine.”

The devil desperately prayed for mercy even though he would be by right way stronger than her.

Just any sort of distraction to save him from this...

Then the door slammed open, letting in a panicked young girl with a red face.

“Old man! A scary demon lady took Hanten away! She’s got white hair and-“ Olivia paused as she glanced over at the ‘kidnapped’ and the ‘kidnapee’ before correcting herself. “-and she’s here too.” 

//

“Do you believe in reincarnation?”

Hanten paused as she considered the young demon before her. It was supposed to be a quick visit, for her to have a look at the rejuvenation of an entire world that had originally gone to ruins. 

And yet, she had been found by a young demon, who called herself Yosafire, with a small watering can by her side who was clearly rather chatty as she initiated their conversation.

Originally, she had intended to ignore Yosafire and her intrusive questions, but after giving much thought, she decided against it. It wouldn’t serve her any good, and if she ignored her, there was the chance that someone might find out that she wasn’t from this world if Yosafire blabbed away. Scaring her away could make things worse, and she wasn’t going to hurt a little demon and make her cry. That would be pathetic on her part.

Besides, she didn’t want to alarm both the god and devil just after they had made up from the war. That was a double suicide, and she had no intention of dying for a third time.

So instead, she humoured the little girl.

“Reincarnation, huh. What’s that?”

Yosafire gasped as if she had just slighted her. “You don’t know what reincarnation is?!”

She snorted, shrugging her shoulders. “Maybe. You tell me then, what’s reincarnation mean?”

The little kid raised a finger, clearly intending to point at her before she paused to think. Then the idea must have come to her as she grinned at her smugly. “It’s a really big word that Lord Kcalb and Etihw use when they talk about me! And everybody else!”

Hanten rolled her eyes. Just as she had expected, the young demon had no idea of the meaning of the word. 

But that didn’t mean much to her.

“Big word, huh,” she muttered, before kneeling to get on the same level as the little demon. 

“So, what’s reincarnation to you? If it’s a big word, then you should at least know what it’s used for, right?”

Yosafire nodded enthusiastically. “It means that people are meant to be together!”

She stared at the back of the kid’s head before sighing. “Hmph. Reincarnation means that your soul’s in another body, dumbo.”

“Then... wait just a sec...” Yosafire looked thoughtful for a moment before narrowing her eyes and folding her arms. “Then how come you asked me to- to enli- to turn on the sun for you?”

“Enlighten. I was testing you.”

“So, do you believe in reincarnation, miss scary-strange-but-not-really-scary demon?”

But this wasn’t someone that knew her, nor did she have the desire to hurt the little demon that was continuously tending to the flowers she had previously trampled.

So she closed her eyes and smiled at the young demon before her.

“Yes. I believe in reincarnation.”


	37. Hanahaki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Met can’t die even if she gets hanahaki

Honestly, Met couldn’t say she was surprised when the buds started appearing in her spit.

What was there to be surprised by? She already knew

-

And the concerned people around her couldn’t help but pry.

Why her, they would ask. Of all the demons, angels, humans, yokai, any living creature really, why her of all of them?

And she would smile at them, clear her throat from the few petals that have stuck to it as she gives them a simple answer.

“She’s just so cool! Don’t you think so too? She’s really fantastic!”

And the most general of responses would be along the lines of a gentle shake of the head and a sigh. Then they would add an off handed comment about the whole thing.

“You should get over her soon. You’re only going to hurt yourself. She doesn’t love you. Heck, I don’t think she even cares about anyone.”

And that’s where she wants to protest at the erroneous statement. She would, if the sickly sweet smell didn’t travel up her airways and make her gag, giving reason to the fellow, who had dared to misjudge her homeslice to be completely heartless, to pat her back with pity etched on their faces. 

And she could do nothing to correct them.

She hates hearing that assumption. She hates hearing how easily they dismiss her crush to be someone so mindless and careless. 

Hanten does care, after all. She just shows it differently.

She’s someone loyal, for one, she’d want to say. She’s seen it with her own eyes, at times when Kurotsun got sick. She could have gone out and left the sick girl in the hands of the yokai and her. She could have gotten drunk in the living room and fallen asleep with no awareness of the world around her. She could have gone murdering without giving a hoot about the small bout of flu.

Instead, what she did was stay and check on the yellow eyed demon. 

It’s hard to get Kurotsun to let someone to take care of her. Met would know. Her help has been rejected many times. And yet, somehow, Hanten had a way of doing the impossible and could actually converse with the sick girl in question, a feat that only she could accomplish, and she slips her medicine into her water when the other girl refuses to take them. She is incredibly loyal, and doesn’t complain when Kurotsuno talks behind her back about how unnecessary it is for her to stay in the same house and annoy her while she’s sick after she recovers.

She silently bets that if it wasn’t for Hanten’s subtle care, Kurotsuno wouldn’t have gotten better so quickly.

And for a loyal demon like her, she wants to be the immortal ghost that accompanies her for the rest of her life. 

Is that too much to ask?

Red petals fall from her mouth, but they aren’t the rose petals that one would usually expect from someone in love. 

They smell sweet and tickle her throat, and she kneels in the corner as she picks up one to take a better look at it.

Rubbing of the blood from it, she notices the purple underneath it before it transitions to white and yellow the closer she slides her thumb across the petal towards the centre. She’s seen this particular flower before, at all the funerals and weddings back when she was alive.

Frangipanni. She scoffs at that and looks back down. How ironic. She’s heard the story of the flower many times.

At least it’s not roses. Now those things would really hurt with their thorns. 

There’s some small yellow flowers in the mix as well, and she knows these. Are all the flowers going to be something familiar that she has seen before? Reminders that she’s so close to her but yet because she herself is so common, 

-

She knows her better than them, after all, she thinks to herself as she spits out some blood along with the petals that had been stained red by it. She won’t die from it, she knows. That’s a guarantee.

But it sure as hell hurts.

There’s a pool of blood and petals surrounding her, courtesy of the blood that she had coughed up as she curls up in it. She doesn’t


	38. Garden eel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based off the part where Met calls Anten a garden eel

“Hello?”

Anten was usually a very patient person.

Patience was a virtue that was often needed in his day to day activities. Cooking needed patience. Boiling water needed patience. Coming up with a strategy to beat an opponent that was much stronger than him to the ground needed patience. Even pranking required patience because he had to control his own behaviour to watch the whole thing unfold onto his victim.

The last one somehow got him into quite a bit of trouble though, he’d admit.

“Hey, are you listenin’?”

All in all, Anten considered himself a master at being patient and cool headed.

“Helloooo? Anyone there?”

And yet, he could tell that he was very close to blowing his own cover from how annoyed and irritated he was. All he had been trying to do was take a nap when the irritant came along, poking and jabbing his poor body until it was aching. He just wanted to rest on this boring day while Hanten and that emo monochrome friend of hers were out at the bar, no doubt going to talk shit about him again with Maekami. Just a short nap. An hour at least.

Was that too much to ask?!

“Garden eel? You talk, right-“

The comment about him being a garden eel was the final straw, and he turned to snap at her.

“SNAKE! I’m a snake! Not one of those- those things! Are you blind?!”

The ghost, Met, he believed her name was, stopped her assault of questions as he glared at her. The silence took over, and Anten almost turned away, thinking that he had managed to get her to shut up so he could rest.

But then...

“Well, ta be honest, you still look like a garden eel to me.”

His jaw went slack as he gaped at her. How could one person be both so stubborn yet so idiotic at the same time? He didn’t even think that he would meet such a person in his lifetime.

Instead, he tried to go about it the reasonable way. “Look, Met was it? What about me says ‘garden eel’ and not ‘snake’, hmm? Why not tell me that?”

He had been confident that that would have been the end of their conversation. This Met, who was now looking thoughtful, would soon realise that she would have nothing to say, nothing to compare against the two animals, and she would have no choice but to be quiet and go away since there was nothing to be said after his rhetorical question.

“Well...”

Unfortunately, that was only what he had expected.

“Snakes are supposed to be pretty threatenin’, while garden eels look more cute and just pop out of the ground like they’re playin’ peekaboo. And also, snakes slither.”

If his jaw could drop to the ground, it would have.

“Fine! Here!” With a snarl, he turned back to his regular form, standing back upright. He then proceeded to leer over the now much shorter ghost, pointing at her as threateningly as he could. “See?! I’m a demon! And I’m not a garden eel!”

“Gee, and here I thought you were some cute girl, but...”

Anten was getting more enraged

Was his pride... being hurt by the ignorance of a teenage girl?

“So... are you like her dad?”

He scoffed at the thought. “No, that’d be Gyakuten. I’m—“

“Her brother?”

Was she... winning their argument?

Stupidity really knew no bounds.


	39. OD human au

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was just an entire idea that never got together

OD human au

Ideas:  
\- starts off as pretty normal, with most key characters from OD human  
\- There’s still magic and whatnot, just not as well known  
Pre-TP  
\- Hanten’s a grade higher than both Rika and Olivia  
\- (personally I’d put Rika as a retainee who’s the same age as Hanten and storywise she was once in the same class as Hanten, then retained and ended up in the same class as Olivia to facilitate a few points later but that’s not very important and is optional)  
\- If following retainee Rika route, human Hanten isn’t that bad of a friend because 1) Rika’s not her servant, 2) they’re all humans in this au, 3) most of the hurt comes in the form of words rather than beating people up (or at least, this holds water until shit hits the fan) and 4) if her whole family is human more likely that she’s going to be a bit more humane  
\- Rika has a fascination with witches (just like she does as Met) and knows a bit of witchcraft from that nice lady in a corner shop who claims she’s a witch (Chlomaki)  
\- Olivia learns magic indirectly from Rika, who does pretty small magic stuff like potions to keep them awake for various reasons (last minute studying for example) and has managed to actually cast small spells that can be seen as a magic trick rather than actual magic (produce flowers from thin air literally)  
\- Olivia is a bit more naive then at least what I’m expecting from canon (it’s not like we have a good comparison, for all we know she already acted like Kurotsuno does with more happy moments)  
\- Hanten is that one logical person in the group who prior to the nonsense of magic trusted in science (can you blame her her dad’s a teacher her mom’s a nurse she’s not going to believe in some magical bs)  
\- Olivia finds it funny when Hanten gets a tad aggressive in trying to disprove magic with science but fails  
\- Hanten thinks that the two of them are nuts but is much nicer to Olivia when she tells her that she’s nuts (Rika on the other hand... if you can’t use sticks and stones to break their bones then use words to get your point across)  
\- Rika thinks that Hanten is just in denial of her pure awesome skills and thus leads to her pissing Hanten off even more when she starts to demonstrate new spells  
\- “It’s science. There’s probably a logical explanation for this...” “nope it’s magic! Impressed?” “I’m impressed by your ability to hide the mechanisms if anything, but not you.” “So you are impressed by me!” “What? No. That’s not what I said”  
\- If want to follow the murderous Rika route in canon, I’ll probably have her as a yandere then(since we don’t really get any reasons for it other than she enjoys murdering), but then again not too bad since no one has made a move   
\- As for parents, Hanten gets the double income nuclear family structure, but her parents are more lax on societal issues, Olivia gets the single parent that works very hard to the extent that she doesn’t see Sullivan for months because he works overseas, and Rika’s family can be decided later  
\- Hanten is a little behind on technology compared to the other two, and as a result isn’t as addicted as the other two are on their phones (PBW technology seems quite behind human world’s)  
\- “What are you two doing?” “We’re watching a video! Co shu nie just released Lamp! You wanna watch?” “What’s that supposed to mean???”  
\- She is, however, addicted to caffeine (compared to alcohol) because she gets quite sleepy easily (referencing how Non-albino Hanten looks like she’s perpetually sleep deprived, like go get some sleep before you end up like me man)

Turning point (TP)  
\- is when the class pet dies on Rika and Olivia’s watch (someone left the cage open and a book crushed the poor hamster)  
\- Not wanting to get into trouble, Rika grabs whatever material she can find to reanimate the damned animal  
\- It works, and they don’t get caught as the hamster looks pretty alive to people(watch the phrasing), including Olivia who doesn’t understand the spell fully, and Rika doesn’t try to explain it either because there’s no real reason to  
\- Olivia believes that she can bring back her mom, even checking with Rika whether anything can be brought back to life with that spell  
\- Rika misunderstands and thinks that Olivia accidentally killed an animal at home and feels really bad for it. Rookie mistake  
\- “Hey Rika, you think this spell can... say, maybe bring someone(aka Olivia’s mom) back to life?” “Like Mr [insert name here](aka the hamster)? Yeah sure. The bigger the fellow though, the more of the stuff you need ta get.”  
\- Hence witchcraft to try to fix her family (logic is that if she can bring back her mom, her dad would spend more time home and yada yada)  
\- Reanimation spell obviously goes wrong (for several reasons, such as it’s been years since mom died, plus other factors like inexperience), she’s summoned a demon, Olivia’s memory is stolen but she’s also given a curse that will transfer once to the next person she touches which fulfils the requirement of ‘being someone she cares about’  
\- However, Olivia faints right after the spell goes awry, and isn’t discovered until Hanten decides to go check on her after a few days.  
\- The point of the curse is for the one being cursed to have to actively avoid your loved ones, but since Olivia’s unconscious, she can’t control that factor, and Hanten accidentally gets the curse instead when she’s pulling her by the hand and getting help  
\- For humour include Anten trying to explain the curse to a Hanten that’s blatantly ignoring the demon in the room because priorities she needs to get help before she listens to the bastard possibly partly responsible for this predicament  
\- All parties retain their original form apart from Hanten whose hands turn black from where she grabbed Olivia  
\- Hanten starts to wear gloves, using the excuse of eczema to justify it  
\- “It’s genetic, alright. See, Kemuri has like every single disease in this world, and I just happen to have this one.” “But... like why now?” “How should I know? Does it look like I’m a biology student?” (Plot twist Hanten is a biology student and a very good one at that)  
\- As expected, Olivia doesn’t remember, and all she knows is that she has a very pathetic social life with two close friends  
\- Rika gets an internship as a disc jockey (whee)  
\- Once Rika finds out that Olivia’s amnesia is magically caused, she uses her internship to build up a list of contacts to get ingredients to try to reverse its effects   
\- Her station gets surprisingly popular, with her listeners either being actual magic users or just nice people who suggest (the following is a term I will very loosely use because this one refers to methods not tested by empirical means ie science I mean if tcm has a few scientific basis you knoe) ‘natural remedies’  
\- On the other hand, Hanten starts to stay over with Olivia, partially to check on her while she bargains with Anten  
\- Anten agrees to give back Olivia’s memory provided that Hanten lets him use her body as a vessel occasionally and does some ‘dirty work’ for him  
\- “What sort of dirty work?” “Well, sacrifices usually. I’ve got other work to handle in my realm you know, and I need to appease my higher ups, you know. We can start small if you want. Some animals first.”  
\- Thus Hanten’s small murder spree starts, from her shooting birds out of the sky to catching rabbits, because if this is the price to get her friend back then so be it  
\- Rika starts feeding Olivia some potions that she thought would help through basically spiking her food  
\- One of them gives her a bad stomachache, so Rika stops and starts to investigate why it’s not working  
\- She realises that a demon caused it (smh) and figures that she needs to sacrifice something to trade back

Headcanons (after):  
\- With her memory stolen, Olivia behaves a bit more aloof and cautious of strangers, trusting Hanten quite a fair bit since she was the one who found her so must definitely know her  
\- Sullivan doesn’t know about the whole event, and Olivia gets the wrong impression of him that he’s not a good dad at all for abandoning his daughter for months and leaving her to fend for herself (she saw him about three months after losing her memory)  
\- This leads to Sullivan quitting his relatively well paying job to get a job closer to home in a much more stressful work environment  
\- Olivia kicks him out of the house though, so he practically lives in his workplace  
\- “Oh, so now you want to make it up to me, now that I’ve lost my memory. Isn’t it a good thing it didn’t happen until now? Then you could still be abandoning me all alone!”  
\- On the other hand, Hanten is welcome to her house, which Hanten takes advantage of to keep an eye on her (as per request of Sullivan, but it’s also for herself) and sleeps over quite often  
\- Which results in something more than just mere friendship happening   
\- Being cursed to have a demon in your shadow is usually not a good thing, but the Hanten manages to set some ground rules for Anten  
\- Anten is mostly amiable about the whole thing, though only because he figured trying his luck by force isn’t going to get him anywhere, and he’d rather fight a manipulative war rather than to be at war with the person hosting him  
\- Rika’s internship as a disc jockey turns out to be a success, and she actually gets the job for the evening shift (it’s a 24/7 station), which also means she goes home rather late like 1 am kind  
\- When Anten decides to push Hanten a bit more to go from murdering animals to humans, there’s a bit of an issue of ethics on Hanten’s side, but she gets around it once Anten ‘reminds’ her ‘nicely’ that if she doesn’t do what he wants, there goes Olivia’s memories  
\- “...you’re a real asshole, you know that?” “Why of course. Comes as part of the job to annoy mortals like you. But you’re not too bad of a host. If you do end up in my world somehow, I wouldn’t mind taking you under my wing.” “Hmm...that’s probably going to end up happening with what you’re asking me to do anyway, isn’t it?”   
\- From there, Anten occasionally takes over, especially after a kill to eat the corpse  
\- Serial murders get found out by journalists, and Rika figures that she might as well partner with ‘serial killer’ here in using the corpses for her own personal aims (currently haven’t fully thought through it)  
\- That leads to her being Hanten’s partner in crime   
\- Olivia eventually gets suspicious of both of her friends   
\- We’ll kindly ignore the middle stuff and jump to the end   
\- Rika may or may not get eaten alive for being a bit of a hindrance to Anten (haven’t decided)  
\- If going by my fav cliche endings, Olivia confronts an Anten who is possessing Hanten  
\- Anten mocks Olivia for being naive and tells her that his host is too far gone by then  
\- “Ah, it’s really easy to manipulate mortals. Each one acting for their own personal aims, and she just happened to play right into my hands. But you know, this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t messed around that night.”  
\- By then Olivia already has most of her memories back as per Hanten’s deal, and she tries to get Hanten to come back while avoiding being nearly murdered by her possessed friend  
\- Nice ending would be that Olivia succeeds with the power of one true love, there’s a hug somewhere,Anten is subdued, and Rika is smh alive (whee)  
\- Not so nice ending is that Olivia succeeds, but her memory gets shattered as well, this time gone for good. No comment on the ghost


	40. Doll (Hanten)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sequel to the original Doll

It was to a muffled sob that they first awoke.

“Please let that work... please be fixed...”

A bright light surrounded it, and everything was a bright blur. Perhaps if they had been able to blink, they would have.

Why couldn’t they blink?

The blur cleared a bit as their eyes soon adjusted to the much too bright light, and the figure of what they supposed was their creator sat before them, face puffy with glistening trails left behind by tears. A desire to reach out to dry those tears formed briefly before they stopped themselves. They couldn’t do that. 

...why couldn’t they do that? 

What was stopping them-

“I...I could only fix one of you. So I just combined the two of you.”

Two of them? The doll thought for a while, trying to remember something. Everything was a mess as they tried, and before long, a wave of exhaustion washed over them before they stopped trying. Their head seemed to droop, as if responding to that particular feeling of theirs.

The shaking that followed after was the only thing that kept them conscious.

“Hanten? Please, I know you can... just, say something, anything!”

Something in them told them that they shouldn’t, that they ought to keep silent, and they were inclined to agree. They were so tired... and they didn’t know why. But their creator had asked for them to say something, so with all the strength that she could muster, they called out, going against their instinct as they tried.

And failed. 

Something had stopped her from saying anything to reassure their creator. 

They must have been just so tired, he convinced her.

Their creator’s eyes narrowed in concern before they darted wildly, and soft hands lifted them up.

“Maybe... You can’t? But I’m sure... I’ll just put you on the bed then...”

So they gave into sleep, getting the much needed rest that they deserved on that soft bed that felt both so familiar yet foreign at the same time.

That they shouldn’t have needed in the first place.  
———————  
Bits and pieces of their memory had slowly returned to them, almost like they were haphazardly trying to solve a puzzle. 

A little girl that looked like a younger version if their creator was playing on the swings, almost all alone if she had not been carrying them around. A hushed voice reading a story to them. Their excited creator smiling brightly as she finished them before showing them to... themselves?

It didn’t make much sense until they had taken into account how she had said two of them. They had been two separate entities, and now they were merged to form one by their creator. Her name was Olivia, they remembered.

One of them cared for her very much and the other held only curiosity towards her. They had not exactly come to a conclusion what they now felt towards her.

Their name now was Hanten.

Then they were woken up by the sound of a one sided argument. It was soft, just barely audible from where they were, but it was enough to wake them up in their immobile state. Something about who did what, they weren’t too sure.

They took the time to look at themselves. From their memories, they remembered a red shirt and a black suit, but now they were wearing a normal green jacket that was unzipped. Looking as far down as they could, they could see why there was that option. The stitching had been done in a flurry, and the thread that didn’t match their fabric colour was holding them together. No wonder she could only fix one of them. Must have had limited materials.

Then it hit them.

She gave his materials to her.  
She gave her his materials?!

If Hanten could sigh, they would have. 

What a headache. 

They turned their attention back towards the room, just in time for them to see their creator closing the box before bending down. They presumed that it was to slide the box under the bed.

The box wasn’t in her hands when she got up.

Why was she putting him away, they mused, before the answer came to them. Olivia had said something about him killing people.

Wouldn’t that be fun, a dark thought from him surfaced before she brushed away the deep seated resentment. Olivia had been scared, she reasoned, and thus couldn’t do much for them.

He rebutted that their creator was a coward who was useless. What was the point of a creator if not to protect their creations?

That caused a bit of fighting between the two entities, and Hanten huffed at the major headache that they were getting.

Nevertheless, they did have a question in mind that had yet to be answered, and that calmed the argument, if momentarily.

Dolls couldn’t kill people. How had he managed to do that?

How interesting.

They felt quite useless, now that they thought about it. Their existence was a kind of quiet one, where all sorts of things could happen to them and all they could do in response was to just suck it up.

They already hated that existence just by thinking about. Why were they ever content with it before?

Maybe that was what drove him to kill. To interact with their world in whatever way he had. 

And now he was under the bed.

He... yes, they remembered. It was Sullivan. They could have sworn that there was a tussle, and he had been sticking out of the bag before everything was torn apart. He cared much for Olivia, that they knew, from how he thought himself to be her actual father.

So why was she putting him in a dusty old box under the bed, they wondered?

They wanted to know.

Was it because she didn’t want them to be like her? Only the humans could create them, so to be like them would be like trying to play god?

One of them was created to be a friend, and the other was created to be curious about their world.

Was it possible for them to be like a human?

The two entities thought about that, and both agreed for different reasons that they had to get under.

No matter what it took, for one of them.  
———————  
It was with much luck that they found their way to the floor.

Olivia had somehow woken up late, and in her bid to quickly get ready to rush to school, accidentally knocked over everything on the bed onto the ground.

Including them.

Sullivan 

I was just trying to protect her... the bullies, they... so I... 

They paused to consider the statement.

I saw you get torn to pieces, Sullivan muttered, barely audible from inside the box. 

Why should I tell you? He sniffled. I’m stuck in this box, I can’t see Olivia, and you can’t do anything to change that.

They thought for a while before an idea came to them, and they were sure that if they could grin, they would. What if we could get you out?

A moment of silence passed, and Hanten wondered if Sullivan had even heard them. But before they could repeat their statement, Sullivan finally responded.

What do you mean?

They snorted, amused at the whole set up. You could always waste away in that box, and never get to see the light of day again. Or you could tell me, and you can bank on the hope that once I understand it, I’ll be able to get you out.

It was just in a spur of the moment, he answered. 

———————  
And so Hanten took what little information they had to heart.

They started small. Just moving short distances on bed. They would try to get a rise out of themselves, focus on their motives, and see if they had any changes in their position.

The other dolls sitting on the shelves judged them, only keeping silent about their activities out of sheer curiosity and to keep the promise that the two sides had made.

Don’t all of you feel tired of just sitting there? They had said, and no one responded to that audacious question. Unable to do anything, always having to sit and stay still, and there’s nothing you can do but accept your fate when... incidents happen.

No one answered, but Hanten knew that all eyes were on them. So they continued, and he influenced her words to reach out more to their silent audience. 

If dolls had hearts, they were pretty sure they were tugging on quite a few heartstrings.

And finally, they agreed. Their ‘research’ to find a way for them to interact with their surroundings were to be kept secret (not that any of them would just outrightly speak to their creator, only Sullivan who had committed a grievous crime would have that opportunity), in exchange for any information of that research coming to fruition to be told to the rest of them.

It looked bleak, only able to move for short distances. 

Then their lucky break came when Olivia brought a friend home, about a few months after that incident.

A spirited brown haired girl, they remembered.

And it must gave

Get out of her bag. They just had to get out of the bag.

Then the feeling of falling 

What was a few people in their experiment to gain a body? Wouldn’t what they would be able to do be worth that few people? Why, he tried to persuade her, once they had a body

And reluctantly, she agreed.  
—————————  
They waited.

And waited...

And waited.

...Something in them told them that there was no going back if they actually did this.

But wouldn’t it all be worth it, they thought as they waited in the dark corners of the alley. To be able to be real, to stop living the cursed life that all dolls had. In that state, they could do nothing. Not moving, not eating, not any of the things that normal humans could do.

Like protect themselves as they had been unable to do before. 

Dolls were so much more fragile than humans. One rip across their body, and that was the end of them. One rip across a human body, and they could just patch themselves up because they had that red liquid running through them.

Did that mean that if they had that red liquid, they would be able to last longer?

In either case, he argued, they would still stand to gain.

Oh, they could hear footsteps now. They were uneven, almost like they were swaying from side to side. They couldn’t quite make out what it was, not from where they laid.

Then the shadow of a drunk man passed by on the wall, surrounded by the dim orange light provided from the street lights.

They pushed away any conscience that had been holding them back prior as they willed the shadows.

It was fascinating to watch as their shadow warped and grabbed the man by the neck.

“Ah? Ah-argh!”

If they could smile, they would have. They wanted people to feel exactly what they had felt, and most of all, know exactly how pathetic they were.

He was dead before his pieces dropped on the ground with a thump. The red liquid continued to spill all over the floor and moved towards them before seeping into their material.

It wasn’t enough, however.

Their shadow warped around the humans, seemingly soaking up whatever was on the ground. 

They had a body now.

Something in them told them to pick up that now soulless doll and keep it close to them. It felt strange in their hands, that husk much softer than what they had expected.

They stuck it into the pocket of their newly formed jacket and zipped it up to hide the discoloured scars.

Then a new question hit them.

Where were they?

They wanted to go home.

But... their creator would send them to that accursed box under her bed if she found out.


	41. All the time in the world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What I wanted to happen if Met and Hanten were to end up together but will never happen

Summary:   
What do you do when you have all the time in the world to make mistakes?

Why, make them of course. And then regret them. Some more than others.  
———————————

Hanten had been confident about Olivia.

And then, that night came.

Of all the things that happened that night, she only briefly remembers the set up: an almost empty bar, some romance drama based of their devil’s love life playing on the tv, at least two mugs in front of her and a third incoming, and Met sitting next to her for company, making not-so-subtle lewd jokes that involved the crude ghost and her doing each other.

She wasn’t sure why she didn’t respond as she usually did that day. Maybe it was the sex noises from the tv, or the beer getting to her brain, or the kick from the earlier realisation that had led her into being in such a situation. Regardless, what had definitely been true that night was that instead of crushing her skull, or slamming her into the pavement as she would usually do in such an event, she had answered verbally.

The words “Sure, let’s do it then,” would be cursed to repeat in her head for the following week.

To her credit, the minute she agreed, Met must have had a moral dilemma as she stared at her, joking smile still fixated on her face as her eyes seemingly went through several different emotions within a few seconds. 

And then she promptly fell out of her chair.

“Are-are you drunk?” Was the immediate response that was blurted out after the cascade of confusing thoughts, making Hanten scoff.

“Right. Only four mugs, and I’m drunk. How little faith you have in me.”  
“No, but like— you— you’d been hearin’ what I was sayin’ right? And then— and then—“  
“I agreed?”  
“Exactly!”

Hanten squinted at her, making a few gestures to show how ridiculous the thought process was. “So you were expecting me to say no, and you still asked? Then what was the point?”

“I—I mean, I— well, I—“

At that point, Met’s brain seemed to have short-circuited, and for a brief moment, with the effects of alcohol finally starting to mess with her brain, she wondered what would happen if she went through with what she said. Would her servant make a few stupid faces? Would that take her mind off... whatever she had been thinking earlier?

She wanted to know.

The next thing she remembered was her pushing herself against the ghost, perhaps their bodies touching a little more than she usually allowed between the two of them to show that she was dead serious. Pinning Met’s shoulder against the counter, she leaned closer to her face, already feeling the steam coming off of her.

“Last chance to back out.”

Met blinked.

Hanten figured that it was out of surprise that she was giving her a chance to get out of the situation.

“I—“  
“?”

There was a clear look of apprehension and suspicion

They probably would have continued at it there a little longer if it hadn’t been for Maekami clearing his throat loudly and asking them to take their ‘playing’ somewhere else. Then ‘somewhere else’ ended up being against the floor, and one of them(she only remembered a middle finger suddenly appearing and silencing the dude) flipped Maekami off as he tried to persuade them again.

She was violent, and Met was obsessive. There was an obvious power imbalance between them.

And no one dared to comment on their relationship.

Of all the people she’d expected to address the obvious issues, Kurotsuno was far, far down the list. She was stoic, and generally didn’t care much for external things unless it directly involved her.

And yet, the stoic dummy would be the first to casually address it at breakfast.

“Hanten, about your... relationship with Met—“  
“Hmm? What about it?”

Kurotsuno paused, seemingly because she was trying to chew on her food but in reality clearly trying to find a way to address the whole thing lightly.

“Is there a chance that it might be... a little, how to put it, harmful?”

Hanten paused before turning to face the other demon. “What’s this about?”

“Well, you see—“  
“If this is about the sofa, we cleaned it. Including the wall and the floor. And the bed too, to be sure. Don’t think there were any stains left.”

Kurotsuno blanched, looking like she had vomited a little in her mouth. Once she regained her composure, she took in a deep breath and sighed.

“It’s not about that. And please don’t bring that up again.”  
“It’s not my fault her head bleeds when she gets—“

“Again, no, stop.”

“You’re right, I don’t have a say in it,” she conceded, taking a deep breath before continuing, “but as your best friend,” she stressed, “I think you should at least have a little space to sort out whatever the two of you are going through.”

“Fine. I’ll tell her about it.

For some reason, the fear in Met’s eyes that once used to entertain her now cause a sinking feeling in her chest. With every crack, squirt of blood or some internal organ part that follows with her assault, it no longer brings the sick joy that she once had, and instead she feels sick to the stomach.

Her servant screams, and it sounds pretty damn terrifying even as she turns her into a pile of flesh. It’s only when she can’t quite take it does she step away from the mess she’s made.

She goes back home, her actual place of residence after that. Her parents barely raise their eyebrows as she greets them, not making eye contact as she speeds past them and enters her room. 

Everything is just as it was since she left it, when she 

Anten doesn’t comment on what she had just done, seeing that the severity of the whole thing hasn’t kicked in yet.

She stays away from the spots that she knows Met frequents.

Or at least, she thought it would be an ordinary day until she spotted those mismatched horns. Hanten stops walking for a bit, and she realises that it’s been a while since she’s talked to any of them. No doubt that Met told them her side of the story, so they must be telling her to stay away. She figures that she’s glad she chose to go back to her parent’s house, and it’s only then she realises she’s looked past Kurotsuno and finds the one person she didn’t even realise she was looking for. Met doesn’t seem to realise she’s her at all, and she huffs a little, planning to walk away and pretend she never saw them in the first place—

Until her head turns—

And their eyes meet from across the street.

Or at least, Hanten thinks they do, since that helmet on her head makes it difficult to see through. Her hand involuntarily goes up as if to grasp something, but before she can even attempt to reach out to her, a group of people, students actually, walks in between them, forcing her to stop.

The moment passes, and she forces her hand down before running back where she came from.

She could have sworn she heard someone calling her name from behind, but she doubts it.

Her knees suddenly seem like a good place to put her head, and she hugs them a little tighter as she tries to comfort herself. It doesn’t work as well as she wants it to.

“...I seriously fucked up, didn’t I?”

Anten closes those beady eyes of his and thinks. A few seconds pass, and he answers that question in that exasperated tone of a parent who had just watched their child screw up. “Honestly, yes. But I think you’re past admitting that, aren’t you?”

“...Hanten.”  
“Kurotsuno.”

“You. Me. Outside. Ten minutes.”

She might as well get it over and done with.

“...?”

She seriously doesn’t understand her. 

“...what do you want?”

“I—“

“Well, now that we’re both of somewhat equal-er statuses,” Met smiles, and it’s no longer that look of obsessiveness from before, “you wanna start over again?”

She returns th

“Sure. Let’s do that.”

And if either of them heard the flap of wings and rustling leaves above them, they didn’t say anything about it.  
———————————  
“So things are going well for you, moge?”

There’s a goofy grin on the recently promoted disc jockey just before she responds. “Yep! Things are looking u


End file.
